Antonio Forteleoni

For Salone del Mobile 2022, Alexander May collaborated with architect and designer Antonio Forteleoni on a weeklong installation that unfolded across the street-facing windows of his Milan studio. Presented continuously for 168 hours, the work shifted in illumination from dusk to dawn, inviting visitors to engage in an extended rhythm of light, material, and form.

The exhibition introduced seven new pieces by Forteleoni: four lamps, a table, a vase, and a stool. Each was fabricated in Sardinia from single sheets of hot-dip galvanised steel, employing a process of subtraction and reassembly that merged prehistoric symbolism with architectural clarity. The silhouettes drew on the language of Nuragic sculpture while imagining its future iterations.

The use of galvanised steel echoed the work of Jacques Couelle, whose sculptural residences punctuate the Sardinian coastline, as well as Isamu Noguchi, whose final body of work in Los Angeles engaged with similar materials and finishes. Each piece was patinated with water from the Mediterranean Sea, grounding the works in Forteleoni's native landscape.

Location

Milan

Year

2022

Role

Curation, Creative Direction, Spatial Storytelling