CASSETTONE RINOCERONTO, ICO PARISI

CASSETTONE RINOCERONTO, A UNIQUE RHINOCEROS CHEST OF DRAWERS FROM THE ZOO MOBILI SERIES BY ICO PARISI (1916-1996) FOR SPARTACO BRUGNOLI, 1992Bleached maple wood, maple veneered laminated wood80cm high, 160cm wide, 70cm deep Catalogue Note: Ico Parisi was an Italian architect and designer. Born Domenico Parisi in 1916 in Palermo, Italy, he was involved in building construction and architecture in Como during his early adulthood. By the 1940s, Parisi took up filmmaking and began designing furniture in 1945, for which he would become most renowned. His designs are characterized by their Italian mid-century Modern aesthetic, constructed using soft woods often cut into boomerang-like shapes, augmented by metal slats and boldly coloured upholstery. The late 1960s marked a precise turning point in Ico Parisi's design research. With Contenitoriumani, created in collaboration with the sculptor Francesco Somaini and presented for the first time at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1968, Parisi embarked on a new path of investigation aimed at defining a utopian-existential idea of living.The culmination of his design and existential research came between 1974 and 1976 with "Operazione Arcevia", addressed in a collective and interdisciplinary manner and aimed at designing an entire community. The work was presented at the 76th Biennale of Venice and subsequently exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome (1979). This strongly utopian socio-urban experience gave rise to his subsequent graphic research, which became the theme of innumerable collective and personal exhibitions." This "Rhinoceros" dresser is from the Zoo furniture series. The present lot is a piece executed by Spartaco Brugnoli in 1992.Featured Exhibitions: Zoo Mobili e precedenti, Galleria Lietti Arte Contemporanea, Como, 1992; Arte del quotidiano un percorso tra arte e design, Lucca, Fondazione Ragghianti, 2009. Reference: For a similar cassettone see Della Rocca sale 19th April 2016, lot 194.Condition Report: Minor shakes, splits and blisters throughout, shakes to shoulder bends, blisters and splits to head and front. See photos. Minor chips to feet Condition Report Disclaimer