Carlo
Forcolini

Carlo Forcolini is a designer like no other. In the 1980s, he created several particularly striking works. His boundless imagination fuses the classical references of lacquered metal typical of that decade with the flamboyant and dreamlike spirit of Surrealism, as introduced in the 1920s by André Breton, Paul Éluard, and Salvador Dalí.
While Surrealism is polymorphic – whether expressed through photography, poetry, or painting – Carlo Forcolini’s work is equally diverse. Like an exquisite corpse, Carlo Forcolini combines table and lamp, or coat rack and mirror, often held by counterweights, blurring traditionally established balances.

His singular body of work questions the relationship between the user and the furniture. With a unique approach, Carlo Forcolini embraces the marks created through an object’s use. These are not scratches or dents, but rather stains, traces, and oxidation. For his Apocalypse Now (1984) coffee table, Carlo Forcolini uses untreated metal, highly sensitive to humidity and abrasion. Each drop of water, each wine stain, will be forever etched into this living material. Carlo Forcolini’s furniture is lived with – it evolves with its use.

In more poetic creations, Carlo Forcolini sculpts light as much as the objects themselves. Like an optical prism, the designer delights in dispersing white light through sculptural intervention to reveal its polychromatic spectrum. At the intersection of physical experience and optical art, Carlo Forcolini’s creations come to life once again, through their use.

Primarily published by Alias, the brilliant master of tubular metal, the craftsmanship of his pieces remains radiant forty years on. Both stylistically and in terms of preservation, Carlo Forcolini’s furniture has stood the test of time with remarkable grace.