Interiors Palazzo Scalini + Light by Stilnovo + Contemporary Design

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With Interiors Palazzo Scalini Jochum Rodgers travels back to the time of “Stile Liberty,” presenting a one-of-a-kind ensemble of furniture designed for the Milanese Palazzo Scalini by Galileo Chini in collaboration with Carlo Spicciani. The pieces are an exceptional document of the times, capturing the artisanal and artistic traditions of the decorative arts. The Florentine painter, conservator, set designer and ceramics designer Galileo Chini (1873–1956) is one of the most important protagonists of Italian art of his time. His early Art Nouveau ceramics attract international attention, he is in charge of the exhibition design for contemporary art shows as well as stage sets for Giacomo Puccini. The King of Siam takes notice of him at the Venice Biennale, and invites him to Bangkok, which will have a key influence on his later work. Together with Carlo Spicciani he is commissioned to create the interior decor and furnishings of the new Palazzo Scalini. The central room is the salon, where they place an eye-catching set of furniture. Made of wood, rich in ornament and detail, strikingly wrought in red and gold. The upholstery is leather, bearing intricate colored decorations. The room comes to prominence through the exhibition Dolce Vita? From the Liberty to Italian Design (1900-1940) in 2015 at the Museé d’Orsay in Paris.

The parallel exhibition Light by Stilnovo, Italy 1950-1960 presents lamps from Stilnovo’s early years of production. Rich in variety and in line with the spirit of the 50s, engineers and designers developed a wide range of models for Stilnovo, which is one of the most important lamp manufacturers of its era, beside ARTELUCE and ARREDOLUCE. Floor and pendant lights are the main focus of the exhibition.

In Mommsenstrasse 4 Jochum Rodgers inaugurates DISPLAY, a new showroom for contemporary work. The first exhibition brings together pieces by Angela Mewes, Gerhard Schütze and Sebastian Stöhrer.

Angela Mewes shows wall-mounted aluminum sculptures from the series “Shellfs” (2010). The 4 Shellfs are derived from one basic shape: inspired by the egg of Columbus, which proposed a simple solution for a seemingly unsolvable problem.The designs and materials of furniture maker Gerhard Schütze are about the clarity of construction; he includes environmental influences and the process of aging in his visual language. For the exhibition at DISPLAY three table designs made of different woods are selected. Ceramic as a materal, fired high, with bright and shiny glazes, characterizes Sebastian Stöhrer’s objects. Their shapes seem to have their source in nature — animal, plant, biotope, never higher than half a meter. The sculptures on view at DISPLAY were made by Stöhrer in 2013-2014. His ceramics have most recently been shown at the Kunsthalle Lingen, Moderne Museet Stockholm, and the London gallery Carl Freedman.