Fish Design More Furniture and Collectibles

Crosby child's chair, designed by Gaetano Pesce, made by Fish Design, New York, 1998, multicolored moulded resin and metal. The Crosby child's chair sums up Gaetano Pesce's approach to design. It is made of an industrial synthetic material which has been treated as if it were a craft material. The back and sides of the chair are made of a single sheet of pliable polyurethane resin which has been poured into a mould. The colours and details of each chair are unique, although the overall dimensions and shape can be made serially. Bright colors are characteristic of all Pesce's designs, not only in his children's furniture. The chair also demonstrates Pesce's interest in the symbolic value of furniture. The seat is actually the profile of a head, and another smiling face is suggested by the holes that pierce the chair's back. Many of Pesce's designs for furniture and interiors have anthropomorphic qualities. The chair was named for Pesce's New York workshop on Crosby Street. It has two faces; one smiling face on the back of the chair and one side profile in the seat. Approximately 40 chairs were made and around 4 of those were child-sized. Each chair was hand produced with different colors and details, making each one unique within the series. A full size version was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in the "Century of a Child: Growing by Design 1900-2000" exhibition July 29 - Nov 5, 2012. Also a full size version of this chair is in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Gaetano Pesce has become known for his radical 'anti' design and his experiments with new materials. In the sixties became famous with his Up-Series, chairs compressed and vacuum-packed in PVC wrappers, literally bounced up when unwrapped. In the 1980's he designed his furniture of polyurethane resin, such as the Green Street Chair...