At Milan Design Week 2024, Seletti, the Italian figurative design company popular around the world for its unconventional way of reinterpreting reality, presents Vitamin, the new colourful lighting project by Marcantonio. The long-lasting partnership between the design brand and artist-designer is reinforced yet again with a new collection of table lamps, candelabras, chandeliers and sconces, featuring the unexpected protagonists of tasty vegetables and fresh fruit.
“We thought about cheery items with which we can bring into everyday life the same vibrant and lively atmospheres that brighten up the characteristic fruit and veg markets,” explained Stefano Seletti, artistic director of the brand. “Marcantonio has always interpreted our figurative approach to design in a unique way, focusing on exploring imagination and fantasy through our products.
Marcantonio continues to experiment with images from the natural world, and now interprets fruit and vegetables in a unique and original way. Not only does he fill everyday spaces with colourful items but he also pays homage to their benefits, and by using the name Vitamin, aims to underline how fundamental they are for the nutrition and wellness of us all.
“From childhood, we are taught that food should not be played with, but what if the game itself were a way to celebrate the importance and beauty of these food types that offer us energy and nutrition every day?” says artist-designer Marcantonio. “For this new project with Seletti, I wanted to create functional sculptures of aubergines, carrots, lemons, pumpkins and peaches positioned in an unlikely and magic equilibrium”.
A tomato supports a carrot, which in turn sustains a lemon, while an orange becomes the base of a banana that holds up an aubergine; compositions of peppers, peaches, cucumbers, as well as pumpkins, aubergines, watermelons, pears, pineapples and lemons bring forth sculpted lighting, unusual and colourful items in which the fruit and vegetables are always fresh and in season.
