LONDON.- World-renowned artist Vincenzo De Cotiis's solo exhibition, Archaeology of Consciousness, opened on 11 October at Carpenters Workshop Gallery London.

The exhibition explores the enduring motif of the archway as a portal and aims to challenge its historic connotations in order to pave the way for fresh perspectives. “Arches symbolise transitions, a concept that extends beyond the mere human and earthly to encompass the ancestral” – De Cotiis.

Through Archaeology of Consciousness, Vincenzo De Cotiis reimages traditional archway structures through deliberate, creative perversions of form and material. Utilising non-traditional materials, including rare stones, recycled fibreglass, and Murano glass, alongside distortions of shape and form, the exhibition questions long-held preconceptions regarding the symbolic significance of archways. 

Vincenzo De Cotiis was born in 1958 in Gonzaga, Italy. He studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano and founded his studio in 1997. Considered a pioneer of the contemporary collectible design scene, De Cotiis creates one-of-a-kind and limited-edition projects by hand in his atelier. Select works are available through Carpenters Workshop Gallery, an artist’s gallery in Milan, and at leading global design fairs.

As an architect De Cotiis creates sculptural spaces that evoke physical and intellectual experiences on the cusp of art and architecture, defying traditional categorisation between artistic disciplines. A fertile dialogue between the old and the new is a cornerstone of his work; history breaks free into spaces where the line between past and future blends. Vincenzo De Cotiis seeks new manifestations that can conflate archaic idioms with futuristic expressions. His creations are born out of an assembly of recovered materials and reflective, futuristic surfaces and appear evocative in their final form. A form of art and design that is not replicable. His work represents a winding path that often doubles back upon itself, one fuelled by parallelisms of space and time, cultural layering and quantum leaps. A process imperceptible to reason and intellect yet manifested through the materiality of his countless works.

Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Vincenzo De Cotiis: Archaeology of Consciousness
October 11th, 2023 - ongoing