Formafantasma at Manitoga’s Dragon Rock: Designing Nature

Artist Residency - May 13 to November 14, 2022

In 2022, Manitoga / The Russel Wright Design Center collaborated with Magazzino Italian Art in presenting Formafantasma at Manitoga’s Dragon Rock: Designing Nature. Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, of the Italian design duo Formafantasma, presented a selection of works in dialogue with the House, Studio and surrounding landscape at Manitoga. The installation focused primarily on their early works in which the use of materials and preference for the organic encounter – in both familiar and unexpected ways – Russel Wright’s experimental attitude and his vision of an architecture in harmony with nature. Formafantasma and Wright share a broad design reach, across medium and scale, from object to environment. Although separated by almost a century, both address environmental concerns and ask if design can be a steward of nature and our future.

ABOUT FORMAFANTASMA

Andrea Trimarchi (1983) and Simone Farresin (1980) are Studio Formafantasma, an Italian design duo based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Their interest in product design developed on the IM master course at Design Academy Eindhoven, where they graduated in July 2009. Since then, Formafantasma has developed a coherent body of work characterized by experimental material investigations and explored issues such as the relationship between tradition and local culture, critical approaches to sustainability and the significance of objects as cultural conduits. In perceiving their role as a bridge between craft, industry, object and user, they are interested in forging links between their research-based practice and a wider design industry. Their work has been exhibited internationally in museums such as MoMA, New York, US; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US; The Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, US; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR; Textiel Museum, Tilburg, NL; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL; MUDAC, Lausanne, CH; Mint Museum of Craft and Design, North Carolina, US; and the MAK Museum, Vienna, AT. In March 2011, Paola Antonelli of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and esteemed design critic Alice Rawsthorn listed their studio amongst a handful of practices that would shape the future of design.

ABOUT MAGAZZINO ITALIAN ART

Magazzino is a private warehouse art space in the Hudson Valley devoted to Postwar and Contemporary Italian Art. Meaning "warehouse” in Italian, the 20,000 square-foot structure is designed by architect Miguel Quismondo and dedicated to select works from the Olnick Spanu Collection. Co-founded by Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, and directed by Vittorio Calabrese, Magazzino is free to the public by appointment. In addition to its curatorial program, Magazzino serves as a resource for scholars and students to utilize its extensive library and archive of Arte Povera, as well as a cultural hub for the vibrant Hudson Valley community. Magazzino bridges collaborations with American and Italian organizations to support contemporary Italian artists and foster discussions about Postwar and Contemporary Italian Art in the United States.

PRESS
Formafantasma at Manitoga by Daniella Ohad (Daniella on Design, August 2022)
Formafantasma Shines the Light on Russel Wright’s Manitoga (Upstate Diary, 2022)
Into the Belly of Dragon Rock by Violet Goldstone (Commune Design, September 2022)
At Home With Russel Wright by Patricia Harris and David Lyon (Boston Globe, August 2022)
2 Art Havens in the Hudson Valley Offer Nature Indoors and Out by Joseph Giovannini (The New York Times, June 2022)
Design and Ecology: the Formafantasma First Site-Specific Installation in the USA by Salotto Studio (Vogue Italia, May 2022)
The 10 Best Art Exhibitions to See Around the World This Summer by Paul Laster (Galerie, August 2022)
Art Museum Day Trips to Take from NYC by Porter Simmons (Coveteur, July 2022)
An Exhibition Posits How Design Can Be a Steward of Nature and the Future by Alexxa Gotthardt (The Slowdown, May 2022)
Formafantasma Takes Over Mid-Century “Manitoga” House in Upstate New York by Alice Morby (Hypebeast, May 2022)
Formafantasma to show at Manitoga’s Dragon Rock with Magazzino in Upstate NY by Kat Barandy (Design Boom, May 2022)
Formafantasma-meets-Russel Wright coming to the Hudson Valley (The Architects Newspaper, April 2022)
Watch video: Studio Formafantasma on Creative Collaboration (Cool Hunting, May 2018)

The 2022 Art+Design Host Committee

Lead Sponsors / David M. & Nanci H. McAlpin, The Marilyn & James Simons Charitable Foundation; Sponsors: Gary & Laura Maurer; Supporters: Stephen & Linda Breskin, Joe Chapman, Allison Cross & Henry Nye, David Diamond & Karen Zukowski, Lyn & John Fischbach, Tom Krizmanic, Frederic C. Rich, William Roos & Scott Olsen

And with support from Manitoga’s Leadership Circle / William Burback & Peter Hofmann, Vernon Evenson & Paul Cassidy, Cheryl & Jack Lenhart, Matthew Marks & Jack Bankowsky, Melissa Meyers & Wilbur Foster, PCLB Foundation, Wild Woods Foundation

Grant funding provided by the Sara Little Turnbull Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts.

This installation was possible with the support of Galleria Giustini / Stagetti, Rome.

Photography by Michael Biondo.