Daniele Papuli | CARTHÀ – À – PORTER

JEWELRY DESIGN SCULPTURE
Daniele Papuli’s artwork on display

BABS ART GALLERY
Milano, Via Maurizio Gonzaga, 2, (Milano)
May 24 – September 12, 2023
Vernissage: May 23, 2023 from 5:30 p.m.

BABS featuring from May 24, 2023, Daniele Papuli’s solo exhibition, CARTHÀ – À – PORTER, in which the artist combines sculptures and design objects with a collection of jewelry created especially for the occasion. At the invitation of the Papuli Gallery, he created real works of art to wear, exclusively for BABS Art Gallery, managing to combine the lightness of the constituent element with a scenographic visual rendering. In fact, the brightly colored paper used for their creation, overlaid and cut by hand, captures the eye of the observer while resulting in a very light weight for the wearer. From this peculiar characteristic comes the name of the exhibition, CARTHÀ – À – PORTER, which will be hosted at the Gallery throughout the summer season. On the other hand, Daniele Papuli’s jewelry presents intense hues, ranging from ultramarine blue to the many shades of light blue, and then to green, purple, red, orange and an intense yellow ochre. All colors characteristic of the hottest time of the year and, above all, of the land where he was born: Puglia.

Each piece was worked by hand, according to techniques the artist was introduced to in 1993, during a training opportunity in Berlin. From then on, paper became his main expressive medium, which he refined over time, going so far as to select each sheet that makes up his works by color and weight. Papuli likes to define himself as a “sculptor,” in constant dialogue with materials, places and space.

Regarding his wearable creations, the artist himself said:

“The jewelry, small sculptures on wear, are fragments of volumes, of visions. Evolutions of form, puzzles of labyrinths, of arabesques, of squiggles, of compact strips that ductile side by side and in their short distance capture shadow and color. Of low faceted reams that retain the sheen of the blade’s cut, of curved angles that round to make their rounds, between hands, mine, that amusedly converse with the material and seek, in a few inches, great distances. In the paper, within reach, hanging and suspended between a thread and silver, my gaze slips as my fingers chase and follow the outlines, sometimes firm and shiny, other times wrinkled and soft. Small fragment suspended, light, alive.”

Also on view at the BABS Art Gallery space will be the following unique pieces, which Daniele Papuli described in this way:

All unique pieces, never the same, unrepeatable in the formation and construction of form. Sometimes fragments of other forms intended for sculptural or installation compositions, in a continuous cross-reference between macro and micro, between wearable proportions and formal modulations. The small compositions are made by hand with the juxtaposition of thin strips of cardboard selected by color and weight, offcuts of other manual processes performed in my workshop, on paper sculptures of other types in an inlay circumscribed in curvilinear perimeters.

Daniele Papuli – Biographical notes

Daniele Papuli was born in 1971 in Maglie (Puglia). After graduating in Sculpture from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, he settled in Milan, where he still works. In 1993, during an international seminar in Berlin, Papuli learned the method of papermaking and chose to use it as the material of choice for his creations. In fact, the artist considers paper as the most suitable tool for his research and language. His works are totally handmade, consisting of leaves selected by color and weight.

Over the years, his sculptural and design works have been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, as well as presented at many important trade fairs. Papuli has also created installations and set designs for prestigious fashion brands. The artist likes to call himself a “sculptor,” in continuous dialogue with materials, places and space.