On the occasion of miart and Salone del Mobile 2016, Galleria Carla Sozzani presents Gufram on The Rocks. 50 Years of Design against the Tide. The exhibition explores the first 50 years of Gufram through its most symbolic projects, the ones that in recent years  have revived the legend of the brand and its mad and disruptive visions.

With a special set up, some of the most representative icons of the history of Gufram invade the gallery's space: from the couch Bocca by Studio65 to Cactus designed by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello; from Pratone by Giorgio Ceretti, Pietro Derossi and Riccardo Rosso, to Sasso and  Sedilsasso by Piero Gilardi; from Globe by Studio Job  to Magnolia by Marcel Wanders, and many others.

Charley Vezza, Global Creative Orchestrator of the brand, says: "Gufram was born in Turin in 1966, revolutionizing the domestic landscape and creating, together with other realities of that time, what is known today as Italian Radical Design. Without giving importance to the increasingly intense series of ephemeral fashions and customs, today Gufram continues on this path and remains true to itself: its icons have become fixed points in the common imagination, as rocks around which the current flows. On the occasion of the 50 years of the brand, and now that the Radical Design has been historicized and is living a new moment of glory, we decided to display this history of resistance with an exhibition at Galleria Carla Sozzani which has always been a place where counter-current ideas can be expressed freely. Do not expect an explanatory exhibit, what you'll see will be the perspective representation of an undisciplined and unconventional way of thinking ".

Two new projects will be presented for the first time at the exhibition in the gallery spaces. Poltrona by Alessandro Mendini is a totemic and symbolic settee, a domestic throne that is enlivened by the contrast between the lightness of polyurethane and faux marble finish. A single copy produced in the early '80s and used for a historical cover of the magazine Casabella, it is now produced in a limited edition in "real-faux" Carrara marble.

The artist Kris Ruhs, on the other hand, will present a brand new soft sculpture in “real-faux” rusty iron taken from his modular sculptures which have grown from a single block, according to the ironic game of the "true-false" that distinguishes Gufram creations.

From the late 60s, in a time when Italian society was going through a profound change, Gufram was at the center of a movement carried on by artists and architects that would later become the radical design as we recognize it today. Gufram is the first to use polyurethane in pieces of furniture.  Taking advantage of its strength and ductility to realize the most unusual and different shapes while maintaining softness, Gufram created a tactile and visual short-circuit unique in the design world.

The first creative who invented a new way of treating polyurethane by painting it with water repellent synthetic paint is the artist Piero Gilardi  who today reminds us that: "In the 70s working on "complete upholstery" meant that designers were limited by the problem of producing liners in very complex fabric which was often impossible to do. At Gufram the designer's imagination was freed through the use of Guflac ".

Gilardi's innovative insight in exploring the creative use of Guflac was at the base of the development of Gufram products. It transformed polyurethane to become not only the structure but also a key aesthetic component in all its projects.  Over the years, Guflac has been changed, improved, and updated, but it always remained a special natural varnish which can give polyurethane a leather-like surface through skillful craftsmanship, and create the wonderful dreams that are Gufram projects.

On show from Sunday April 10th to Sunday May 1st, 2016

Every day, 10.30 am – 7.30 pm

Wednesdays and Thuersdays, 10.30 am – 9 pm

all images courtesy of Galleria Carla Sozzani

> via Galleria Carla Sozzani