Martino gamper biography of george michael
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1971, Merano, Italy) lives and works in London. His gesture will be radical and transformative, not destructive, with the aim of reinventing and reimagining the object, offering it a new destiny and identity.
Each piece will be reactivated in its vital function and opened to new formal and narrative interpretations. Among the most emblematic expressions of his practice, the project is built from reclaimed wood and explores a wide range of compositional possibilities, transforming leftover materials into furnishings of powerful visual and tactile presence.
Gamper’s participation holds strong symbolic value.
A decade later, his return marks a new chapter in the story of the space, reaffirming its commitment to an ongoing dialogue between design,
art, and experimentation.
During the performance, Martino Gamper intervenes on a curated selection of mid-century furniture pieces drawn from Nilufar’s collection. The selection also includes a Low table by Fabricius & Kastholm (Denmark, 1960s), made of oak with a slate top and steel base; an Applique Lamp by Luigi Caccia Dominioni (Italy, 1960s), in brass, white ribbed glass, and red lacquered metal; and a swiveling Lamp by Franco Albini and Franca Helg (Italy, 1962).
In 2015, on the occasion of Nilufar Depot’s opening, he designed the site-specific setting for the inaugural dinner, involving over 150 seating elements.
Gamper was awarded an OBE in 2023 for services to Design.
Awards
Moroso Award for Contemporary Art, 2011
Wallpaper* Award for Best Use of Colour, 2011
Wallpaper* Award for Best Alchemist, 2008
Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, Winner of Furniture Award for ‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’, 2008
* Denotes solo exhibition
**Donotes catalogue
2014
‘Divina’, Kvadrat Showroom, Milan, It
‘Chair Lift’, Moroso Showroom, Milan, It
‘Period Room’, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, Fr
‘Edge of the Seat: The Artist’s Chair’, Large Glass, London, Uk
‘In A State of Repair’, Rinascente, Milan, It (in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery)
‘design is a state of mind’, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, Uk**
‘Makers Library’, British Council & V&A partnership, Cape Town, Za
‘The Future is Handmade’, Kalmarkonst Museum, Kalmar, Se
‘Arbeitsraum Suedtirol’ Bayerischer Kunstgewerbe-Verein, Munich, De
2013
‘Trade Show’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, Uk
‘Tu casa, mi casa’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, Uk*
‘ICA Off-Site: A Journey Through London Subculture: 1980s to Now’, ICA, The Old Selfridges Hotel, London, Uk
‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’, Benaki Museum, Athens, Gr*
‘Jason Dodge/ Martino Gamper’, American Academy In Rome, It
2012
‘Bench Years’, London Design Festival commission, V&A Museum, London, Uk
'Synesthesia', M+B Gallery, Los Angeles, Us
'METAMORPHOSIS_Behind, After or Beyond', Milano, It
'A Drawing While Waiting for an Idea', Large Glass, London, Uk
'Bauhaus Live', Aram Gallery, London, Uk
'Scott Burton' curated by Oscar Tuazon, Foundazione Giuliani, Rome, It
‘Glow Rod Tanning with....’, Kerstin Brätsch with Martino Gamper, Gio Marconi, Milan, It
‘D'Apres Giorgio’, Casa Museo Giorgio de Chirico, Rome, It
‘Le Sentiment des Choses/ The Feeling of Things’, Le Plateau, Paris, Fr
2011
‘Condominium’, Galleria Franco Noero, Torino, It*
‘Reason Design Emotion’, Beijing International Design Triennial, China
‘MetaDomestic’, Landesgalerie, Linz, At
‘Totem & Taboo’, Museums Quartier, Wien, At
‘Glass Scene’, Villa Noailles, Hyres, Fr
‘KnowHow’, Campbell Works, London, Uk
‘Atomi’, Nilufar Gallery, Salone del Mobile, Milano, It
‘Gesamtkunsthandwerk’, a collaboration with Martino Gamper, Francis Upritchard, Karl Fritsch, Govett Brewster, New Plymouth, Nz
‘Overlap’, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
‘New Olds’, Design Museum Holen, Il
2010
‘100 Chairs en 100 Jours de 100 Maniѐres’, Englise Saint-Pierre, Site Le Corbusier de Firminy, Fr*
‘Bart Wells Boutique’, 235 Brompton Road, Uk
‘TechnoCRAFT’, YBCA, San Francisco, Usa
‘Book Show’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, Uk
‘Get It Louder, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou’, British Council, London, Uk
‘Profusion’, Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, Uk
‘Totem and Taboo, Sant’ Ambrogio, Milan, It**
‘Design By Performance’, Z33, Hasselt, Be
‘Keep Your Seat’, GAM, Torino, It**
‘21x21’, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, It
2009
‘Stanze e Camere + 100 Chairs in 100 Days’, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, It*
‘Sitting and Seating’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘Autoprogettazione Revisited’, Architectural Association, London, Uk
‘Chair Arch’, with *Wallpaper & Ercol, V&A Museum, London, Uk
‘Boule to Braid’, Curated by Richard Wentworth, Lisson Gallery, London, Uk
‘Super Contemporary’, Design Museum, London, Uk
‘U.F.O Art & Design’, NRW Forum, Dusseldorf, De**
‘Beyond Kiosk - Modes of Multiplication’, Mudam, Luxembourg
‘Feierabend’, Kate MacGarry Gallery, London, Uk
‘Gio Ponti Translated’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘SuperStories", Triennial of contemporary art, fashion and design, Hasselt, Be**
2008
‘Nowhere Now Here Now’, LABoral, Gijón-Asturias, Es**
‘Mollino-Gamper, Frieze Art Fair, Salon 94, London, Uk
‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, Somerset House, London, Uk**
‘Inspirations’, Conran, London, Uk
‘Undiszipliniert’, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Au**
‘Flight of the Dodo’, Project, Dublin, Ie
‘Manifesta7’, Fortezza/ Fanzensfeste, It
‘Here There and Everywhere’, Leeds Met, Leeds, Uk
‘Receiving’, Wright, Chicago, Usa*
‘Designer of the Future’, Design Miami, Basel, Ch
‘Salone del Mobile’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘Total Trattoria’, The Aram Gallery, London, Uk*
‘Designer of the Year’, Design Museum, London, Uk – winner of furniture category**
‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, Ch**
2007
‘Cose’, Galleria Prisma, Bolzano, It
‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Genève, Ch**
‘Gio Ponti Translate by Martino Gamper’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘A 100 chairs in 100 Days’, 5 Cromwell Place, London, Uk*
‘Getting it Louder’, British Council traveling exhibition, Guangzhou, China**
‘If Gio Only Knew’, design performance, Design Miami/ Basel, Basel, Ch
‘Salone del Mobile’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘Confronting the Chair’, solo show, Design Museum, London, Uk*
2006
‘Chairs for Walking-Chair’, Walking Chair Gallery, Wien, Au*
‘No Entry’, with Ron Arad, Chain, Chain, Chain Gallery, London, Uk
‘Miss-Fit’, Freiraum Museumsquartier, Wien, Au
‘Seequence’, Chain, Chain, Chain Gallery, London, Uk
‘Tigenes’, National Gallery, Oslo, Norway**
‘Talents’, Ambiente, Messe Frankfurt, De
2005
‘Zoo Art Fair’, in collaboration with M+R Gallery, London, Uk
‘Book Corner at Frieze Lounge’ exhibition design for Frieze Art Fair, London, Uk
‘Plans for Other Days’ exhibition with Janfamily , Lungomare Gallery Bozen, It
‘Martino, Rainer, Maki & Kajsa say: Guten Apetitt’, Design Mai, Berlin, De
‘Britain Loves Fashion’, traveling exhibition British Council Chongqing, China
2004
‘We Connect’, with åbäke at Studio Camuffo, Venezia, It
‘10 X 10’, 100% design, Earls Court, London, Uk
‘What Martino did between 2000-2004’, Book exhibition at M+R Gallery, London, Uk
‘A40’ carpet exhibition at Aram Gallery, London, Uk
‘Some Furniture I've Always Wanted to Make’, M+R Gallery, London, Uk*
2003
‘Inside-out’, Lungomare Gallery, Bozen, It
‘Oxo Peugeot Design Awards’, Oxo Tower, London, Uk
‘Walking Carpet’, Village Fete, with Eddy Mundy, V&A, London, Uk
‘Waste to Taste’, Sotheby’s, London, Uk
‘The Book Corner’, traveling exhibition, Vilnius book fair, Vilnius, Lithuania
‘Design-UK’, Viaduct shop, London, Uk
2002
‘Book Corner’, traveling exhibition, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
‘Woodlands’, installation, Bloomberg Headquarters, London, Uk
‘Book Corner’, traveling exhibition, Art & Photograph Gallery, London, Uk
‘Coming Home’, light installation, Design Museum, London, Uk
‘Book Corner’ traveling exhibition, British council, Milano, It
To accompany the book launch, Nina Yashar has invited Martino Gamper to present a site-specific performance, conceived in direct dialogue with the architecture and spirit of Nilufar Depot.
Among them: the Headboards Cabinet “Positano” by Ico Parisi, the “LT 29” bed by Franco Albini and Franca Helg (Italy, 1957), in walnut wood, and the Model 110 chairs by Ico Parisi (Italy, 1959), in walnut and velvet upholstery. The space is imagined as a constantly evolving stage—capable of welcoming and renewing the language of contemporary design.
Martino Gamper
18: Das Haus Des Künstlers’, Haus Konstruktiv Stiftung für konstruktive und konkrete Kunst, Zurich
Working through a methodology rooted in improvisation and an intuitive response to form, Gamper employs acts of deconstruction, assembly, and recomposition. He completed a Masters in 2000 from the Royal College of Art, London, where he studied under Ron Arad.
Working across design and art venues, Martino Gamper engages in a variety of projects from exhibition design, interior design, one-off commissions and the design of mass-produced products for the cutting edge of the international furniture industry.
Gamper has presented his works and projects internationally, selected exhibitions and commissions include:
‘Middle Chair’, The Modern Institute at Pollock House, Glasgow(2017); ’Below Stairs’, Sir John Soane Museum, London, Uk(2016); ’100 Chairs in 100 Days’, MIMOCA, Marugame, Japan (2015); ’design is a state of mind’,Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London (2014); ‘Period Room’, Palais De Tokyo, Paris; ’Tu casa, mi casa’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2013); ‘Bench Years’, London Design Festival commission, V&A Museum, London (2012); ʻGesamtkunsthandwerk’ (Karl Fritsch, Martino Gamper and Francis Upritchard), Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth – New Zealand (2011); Project for Café Charlottenborg, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2011); ‘Bench to Bench’, public street furniture in East London in collaboration with LTGDC (2011);‘A 100 chairs in 100 Days’, 5 Cromwell Place, London (2007);‘Wouldn't it be Nice...Wishful thinking in Art & Designʼ, Centre dʼ Art Contemporain, Genève (2007).
Gamper was the recipient of the Moroso Award for Contemporary Art in 2011, and the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, Furniture Award in 2008 for his project ‘A 100 Chairs in 100 days’.
Each intervention becomes a reflection on the narrative and formal potential of the object, unfolding in a continuous dialogue between memory and transformation.
The performance will unfold in the atrium—the main hall of the Depot—and will be anchored by one of Gamper’s most intricate works: his Off Cut Tables, composed of thirteen individual tables.
Starting as an apprentice with a furniture maker in Merano, Gamper went on to study sculpture under Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. For the occasion, Gamper—whose interdisciplinary practice combines material expertise with formal experimentation—will intervene on a selection of collectible design pieces from the gallery’s collection.
The works resulting from Gamper’s transformative intervention, distinguished by working with offcut plywood veneers from the Italian company Alpi, become part of the Depot’s evolving exhibition path, and will be on view to the public
starting October 1st.
Photographer: Filippo Pincolini
About
21 artisti per il 21∞ secolo’, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo per l'Arte, Torino
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Nilufar Depot, The First Decade
Performance: 30 Septmber 2025
Open to the public: 2PM—5PM
From October 1, 2025
Monday–Saturday 10AM—7PM
Nilufar Depot, Viale Lancetti 34, Milan
2025 marks the tenth anniversary of Nilufar Depot: a decade of visions, experimentation, and exhibitions that have established the space on Viale Lancetti as an international reference point for design and visual arts.
To celebrate the occasion, Nilufar presents Nilufar Depot: The First Decade—a 100+ page book chronicling the Depot’s journey since its inception.