Enzo Mari (27 April 1932[1][2] – 19 October 2020) was an Italian modernist artist and furniture designer who is known to have influenced many generations of industrial designers.[3][4]
Mari was born in Novara, Italy, and he studied at the Brera Academy in Milan, Italy from 1952 to 1956.[5]
He drew inspiration from the idealism of the arts and crafts movement and his political views as a communist.[6]
From 1956 onward, he specialized in industrial design and created a portfolio of more than 2,000 works.[5] In the 1960s, he published a series of books with his then-wife Iela Mari, including "The Apple and the Butterfly," a book of illustrations depicting the story of a caterpillar and an apple, without any text.[7]
In the 1970s as a professor at The Humanitarian Society, he founded the Nuova Tendenza art movement in Milan.[8] Also in that decade, he designed the Sof Sof chair[9] and the "Box" chair.[10] In 1974, in reaction to the mass production of furniture, Enzo Mari created a book entitled, Autoprogettazione, which deals with the DIY construction of furniture and provides plans and instructions on how to create 19 items of furniture from ubiquitous materials.[11][12] In the 1980s, he designed the modernist Tonietta chair.[13]
Mari also taught at University of Parma, the Accademia Carrara, and the Milan Polytechnic.[8]
Multiple works by Mari have been on display at the Museum of Modern Art.[14] He had retrospective shows in Turin,[15] and an important presentation of his work in the "Adhocracy" show, during the first Istanbul Design Biennial. In addition, the Triennale, Milan is exhibiting a tribute to Mari, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli.[16]
He donated the archive of his designs to the city of Milan on the condition that it may not be displayed for 40 years.[5]
Mari married children's book illustrator Iela Mari in 1955; they had two children.[17][4]
He married art critic, theoretician and performance artist Lea Vergine, in 1978.[18][4] They had known each other since the 1960s.[19] He died from COVID-19 on 19 October 2020, at the age of 88, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[20] Lea Vergine died a day later, also from COVID-19.[21]
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