NEW YORK, NY.- Galerie56 – the cultural space founded by Lee F. Mindel, FAIA, located in Tribeca at 56 Leonard Street – is presenting Gaetano Pesce Unframed, an exhibition of drawings by multidisciplinary Italian artist Gaetano Pesce. The exhibition opened on March 2 and runs through May 8, 2023.

Focusing on a little-known practice within Pesce’s vast oeuvre, Gaetano Pesce Unframed features a collection of 60 drawings that relate both to his existing architecture and interior projects, as well as unrealized spaces, reflecting the artist’s unbounded imagination. In addition, the drawings provide insight into several of Pesce’s most iconic industrial and furniture design projects, such as humanoid cabinets and felt chairs. Some of the Pesce projects that are depicted in the drawings include Bahia House and Maison des Enfants, though the majority are drawings of figurative architecture.

The exhibition marks the first time a coherent selection of Pesce’s drawings is being exhibited to the public, only some of which have previously been shown in a limited capacity at select museums. The artist’s drawings are rendered in commonplace materials such as paper, mylar, cardboard and resin, a testament to Pesce’s capacity to defy categorization and appeal to a diverse audience.

“One of the greatest conceptualists of our time, Gaetano Pesce is one of the most important living figures in architecture and design today,” says Lee F. Mindel, founder of Galerie56. “His concept of the world and sense of materiality is uniquely characterized by a profound sense of humor. We are honored to showcase his drawings that exemplify the thought behind some of his most significant projects.”

Pesce’s drawings evoke a playful sense of humor and emphasize his penchant toward the fantastical. The exhibition highlights not only the artist’s skill as a master draftsman, but also affirms his position as a fine artist.

Additional works on display include a selection of Pesce’s designs in resin, such as a bookcase entitled Self-portrait model, a Fish Coffee Table and UP 7 (II Piede), a unique prototype of giant red foot.

During his career, that spans four decades with commissions in architecture, urban planning, interior, exhibition and industrial design, Gaetano Pesce, the architect and designer, has conceived public and private projects in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. In all his work, he expresses his guiding principle: that modernism is less a style than a method for interpreting the present and hinting at the future in which individuality is preserved and celebrated.

Born in La Spezia, Italy, in 1939, Pesce studied Architecture at the University of Venice between 1958 to 1963 and was a participant in Gruppo N, an early collective concerned with programmed art patterned after the Bauhaus.

He taught architecture at the Institut d’Architecture et d’Etudes Urbaines in Strasbourg, France, for 28 years, at the Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, at the Domus Academy in Milan, at the Polytechinc of Hong Kong, at the Architectural School of Sao Paulo and at the Cooper Union in New York City, where he has made his home since 1980, after living in Venice, London, Helsinki and Paris.

Pesce’s work is featured in over 30 permanent collections of the most important museums in the world, such as MoMa of New York and San Francisco, Metropolitan Museum in New York, Vitra Museum in Germany, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Pompidou Center and Musee des Arts Décoratifs of Louvre in Paris; he exhibits art in galleries worldwide.

His award-winning designs include the prestigious Chrysler Award for Innovation and Design in 1993, the Architektur and Wohnen Designer of the Year in 2006 and the Lawrence J. Israel Prize from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in 2009.