Heavy metal: Gianluca Pacchioni puts his monumental experiments centre stage
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Milan-based artist Gianluca Pacchioni’s work is a picture of alchemy. A fusion of life experiences, people, and curiosity inform his rigorously sculpted metal objects. The sculptures embrace a spectrum of colours, textures, and techniques – often all at once.
Pacchioni makes his American debut next month at Collective Concept, a capsule presentation within the Collective Design Fair where eight artists examine their creative process. Pacchioni’s contribution, titled ‘Tropicality: a matter of sensorial intentions’, puts his recent experiments with molten metal centre stage.
The artist will present a series of pieces, each with a different (but related) personality. Most striking is ‘Fossile’, two monumental panels featuring bronze and rose-bronze bas-reliefs of plants grown in Pacchioni’s garden. ‘You have the sensation that the plants are floating in a bath of gold mud, while the other side is blank and smooth, focused on the classification of patinas,’ Pacchioni says. ‘There are two souls in every panel.’
A similar contrast is apparent in his ‘Cremino’ side tables, where liquid brass is poured onto raw slabs of red Persian travertine and suspended mid-air by uncannily thin legs. A stainless steel mirror, sourced from Japan, is mounted below the rock to reveal its craggy underside. Also on view are a stainless steel light sculpture – similar to the one permanently installed at the Italian Embassy in Paris – with two-toned, sea anemone-like tentacles, and an aluminium disk called ‘Pupil’, whose finish captures the fleeting colors of a sunrise.
‘The Pupil’ (hanging) and ‘Collapse’. Photography: Lorenzo Pennati
Born in Milan in 1966, Pacchioni studied economics before moving to Paris in the 1990s to begin a career in finance. Enamored with the city’s art world, he began forging metal as a self-taught apprentice in a studio shared with other artists at Quai de la Gare. After mounting his first exhibition – a collection of metal furniture – he returned to Milan to hone his work alongside top-tier craftspeople. Last year, the Cologni Foundation awarded Pacchioni a Master in Fine Arts and Crafts, an honour given to the most skilled artisans in Italy.
‘I am completely overwhelmed by the research of creativity. It’s never-ending,’ Pacchioni says. His heartfelt experiments are applied to objects in his workshop, where Pacchioni’s team fuses his methods with traditional techniques to manipulate metal in new ways.
The work is a labour of love: making one Fossile panel, for example, requires more than 50 steps. ‘I call it a medieval process,’ Pacchioni says. Multiple moldings, cold-casts, polishing, and the perfect patina are executed in close collaboration with local artisans. He sees them, and life itself, as a constant source of inspiration. ‘Beauty comes from everywhere. You need to be open and listen,’ he says. ‘You don’t know how many little pieces of every person I’ve met are in my work.’
Left, ‘The Pupil’. Right, ‘Anemone’
In ‘Fossil II’, palm trees, banana leaves and drops of dew are captured in liquid metal and transformed into screens, accompanied by small tropical creatures
Left, ‘Cut IV’ and ‘The Pupil’. Right, ‘Skins’
Life inside the experimental Gianluca Pacchioni atelier in Milan
INFORMATION
’Tropicality: a matter of sensorial intentions’ will be on view from 3 – 7 May. For more information, visit the Collective Design website (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
Skylight Clarkson Square
550 Washington Street,
New York, NY 10014
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Rimowa violin case with Gewa strikes the right note
This new Rimowa violin case created in collaboration with Gewa is made of hard-wearing grooved aluminium
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Nordic Knots opens Stockholm showroom in a former cinema
New Nordic Knots Stockholm showroom makes the most of the dramatic interiors of the early-20th-century Eriksbergsteatern
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Nendo’s collaborations with Kyoto artisans go on view in New York
‘Nendo sees Kyoto’ is on view at Friedman Benda (until 15 October 2022), showcasing the design studio's collaboration with six artisans specialised in ancient Japanese crafts
By Pei-Ru Keh • Last updated
-
Italian craftsmanship comes to Los Angeles in this eclectic Venice Canals apartment
Boffi Los Angeles celebrates a juxtaposition of texture throughout a waterside bolthole
By Hannah Silver • Last updated
-
Design Miami/Basel 2022 explores the Golden Age
Design Miami/Basel 2022, led by curatorial director Maria Cristina Didero, offers a positive spin after the unprecedented times of the pandemic, and looks at the history and spirit of design
By Rosa Bertoli • Last updated
-
Kvadrat’s flagship New York showrooms encompass colourful design codes
Industrial designer Jonathan Olivares and architect Vincent Van Duysen have worked with Danish textile brand Kvadrat on the vast new space, also featuring furniture by Moroso
By Hannah Silver • Last updated
-
What to see at New York Design Week 2022
Discover Wallpaper’s highlights from New York Design Week 2022 (10 – 20 May 2022): the fairs, exhibitions and design openings to discover
By Pei-Ru Keh • Last updated
-
Colour defines LA ceramics studio and showroom of Bari Ziperstein
Step inside the multifunctional ceramics studio, office and showroom of designer and artist Bari Ziperstein, designed by local firm Foss Hildreth
By Pei-Ru Keh • Last updated
-
Design for Ukraine: Bocci and Design Miami join forces to raise funds
The online sale of iconic Bocci pieces will benefit GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund, providing urgently needed humanitarian aid
By Rosa Bertoli • Last updated
-
The Future Perfect celebrates materiality in new Los Angeles exhibition
Coinciding with Frieze LA, a new exhibition titled ‘Momentary Pause’ (17 February – 18 March 2022) explores material-based practices that inspire change
By Hannah Silver • Last updated