All Photos By Gail

At Salon Art + Design in 2018, Galerie kreo presented a piece that quietly shimmered from its corner: Alessandro Mendini’s Poltrona White Gold. Unlike some of the louder, more colorful Mendini works, this chair relied on subtlety — and sparkle — to draw viewers in.

Covered entirely in tiny reflective mosaic tiles, the chair appears almost liquid in its surface treatment. The white-gold finish catches light gently rather than dramatically, giving the piece a soft glow that shifts as you move around it. From a distance, it reads as a single luminous form; up close, the meticulous craftsmanship of the miniature tiles becomes apparent.

A Familiar Shape, Reimagined

The silhouette immediately connects to Mendini’s iconic Poltrona di Proust. The clover-shaped backrest, rounded arms, and enveloping seat echo the historic form that Mendini famously transformed into a postmodern icon in 1978. But where the original Proust chair relied on hand-painted pointillist decoration, Poltrona White Gold translates that decorative impulse into material.

Instead of paint, Mendini uses surface and texture. The tiny tiles create a pattern without color, replacing visual noise with luminous refinement. The result feels both quieter and more luxurious — a late-career evolution of Mendini’s long-running exploration of ornament.

More Sculpture Than Seating

Seen in person, the chair feels less like traditional furniture and more like a sculptural object. Its proportions are generous and low, with rounded forms that feel almost melted or softened. The continuous mosaic covering enhances this impression, making the chair look as though it has been cast in shimmering metal.

This blurring of function and sculpture is classic Mendini. Throughout his career, he challenged the idea that furniture should be purely practical. Instead, he treated objects as emotional experiences — pieces meant to spark curiosity, delight, and conversation.

Galerie kreo and Collectible Design

Created as a limited edition for Galerie kreo, Poltrona White Gold sits firmly within the world of collectible design. These are pieces produced in small numbers, often closer to artworks than mass-produced furniture. The craftsmanship alone — covering the entire sculptural surface in mosaic — makes large-scale production impractical, reinforcing its status as a gallery object.

This also reflects Mendini’s late-career work, when he increasingly explored precious finishes, reflective surfaces, and highly crafted forms. The white-gold treatment gives the chair a contemporary polish while maintaining the playful historic reference that defines the designer’s aesthetic.