Enzo Mari

Enzo Mari was an Italian modernist artist and furniture designer who is known to have influenced many generations of industrial designers.

He drew inspiration from the idealism of the arts and crafts movement and his political views as a communist.

From 1956 onward, he specialized in industrial design and created a portfolio of more than 2,000 works. In the 1960s, he published a series of books with his then-wife Iela Mari, including "The Apple and the Butterfly," a book of illustrations depicting the story of a caterpillar and an apple, without any text.

In the 1970s as a professor at The Humanitarian Society, he founded the Nuova Tendenza art movement in Milan. Also in that decade, he designed the Sof Sof chair and the "Box" chair. In 1974, in reaction to the mass production of furniture, Enzo Mari created a book entitled, Autoprogettazione, which deals with the DIY construction of furniture and provides plans and instructions on how to create 19 items of furniture from ubiquitous materials. In the 1980s, he designed the modernist Tonietta chair.

Mari also taught at University of Parma, the Accademia Carrara, and the Milan Polytechnic.

Multiple works by Mari have been on display at the Museum of Modern Art. He had retrospective shows in Turin, and an important presentation of his work in the "Adhocracy" show, during the first Istanbul Design Biennial. In addition, the Triennale, Milan is exhibiting a tribute to Mari, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli.

He donated the archive of his designs to the city of Milan on the condition that it may not be displayed for 40 years.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023