Ettore Sottsass
Exhibition at Friedman Benda in NYC
Design gallery Friedman Benda has a solo show of work by Italian design Ettore Sottsass, on view in NYC through December 16, 2023.
The show includes a variety of work from 1947 to 1974, including a number of ceramics such as the slip-cast vessels from the 1969 Yantra series. Sottsass designed almost 40 pieces in this series, which echo Aztec forms, Jazz-age radios, and are named after the Sanskrit term for geometric compositions. It was a thrill for me to see these vases in person for the first time!
Yantra 35, at left, Yantra 20, at right. Both dated 1969.
Yantra 37, 1969
Also on display are these two vases from 1955. The nested vase at right includes two stacked pieces, which can each stand independently.
Two Donald Judd-inspired shelving arrangements include a variety of vessels from the late 1950s and early 1960s. These vessels might be a reference point for recent sculptural vessels by Ian McDonald, which were on display at Patrick Parrish earlier this year.
Also on view is the 7-feet-tall Due Menhir e Grande Fallo from 1966, one of four triptych totems created by Sottsass. 
In addition to the ceramics, the show includes furniture, room dividers, and a variety of ephemera. Ettorre Sottsass 1947-1974 is on view at Friedman Benda on West 26th St in NYC through December 16.