M&C Saatchi's Jessica Basi Heads Into the Blue of the House of Peroni
A young neckerchiefed house guest marches up to Theo, the twinkly-eyed barman manning one of The House’s many Peroni ‘infusion’ rooms. He’s confident. He’s dramatic. He is unmistakably Italian. ‘Fabulous, just fabulous.’ It takes Theo a moment to realise this is not in fact a drinks request, but an entirely unbidden proclamation on the house at large.
Scaling each tier of the four-story fun factory, it seems this is a common reaction. Not quite so forthcoming perhaps, but the faces of wonder, the approving nods, the ill-concealed looks of glee from cool nonchalant urbanites, are in full flow. And with 12 rooms filled with contemporary Italian fashion, film and food, it’s not hard to see why; for any trendsetting Londoner with an ache for inspiration, this place is Toytown…
The Design
Message in a bottle... 25 to be exact. Playing with dimensions of the new piccola design, Andrea Morgante has made use of some pretty jazzy 3D modelling software to sculpt 25 Peroni miniatures. Each piece is a little tower of modern design, inspired by Italian architecture through the ages, though Morgante leaves interpretation open to the viewer. And while a Romanesque statue, and mini Leaning Tower of Pisa are among the first to jump out, to British eyes it’s easy to see a London influence too (a Gherkin-like lattice, a helter skelter…) Whatever your impression, it’s a refreshingly simple concept, which hinges on taking a single idea and pushing the boundaries every which way.
The Art
It’s perhaps misleading to bracket off something that shapes all the goings on at 64 Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Even the hallways are dripping with fabric art, with crinkled curves of Peroni blue forming sculptor Daniele Papuli’s literal take on ‘new wave’ Italian fashion.
Angela Loveday’s Art That Demands Independence, a tribute to the emancipated housewife figure of the 1960s, signposts a turning point for women all over Europe; in an immersive photographic gallery, femme fatales emblazoned in colour ditch the arduous chores of yesteryear, don stilettoes and swap hoovers for high end fashion.
Next, Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla, or Carnovsky as they’re known in the upper echelons of Milan’s art circle, capture the many faces of modern Italy with their own installation; layers of red, green and blue prints, one on top of another, form a room of intricately patterned optical-effect wallpaper, each layer illustrating a different story of contemporary Italy.
