Italian artist Franco Perrotti’s works comment on the state of the world

Opened November 6 in Dubai as part of Dubai Design Week (Nov. 6-9), and continuing during Dubai Art Week (November 17-24), Italian artist Franco Perrotti presented an exhibition titled Dissuader: Art and Design, at Alserkal Avenue, one of Dubai’s creative hubs and leading arts district. Organised under the auspices of the Italian Cultural Institute of Abu Dhabi, it was an exploration of boundaries and exclusion, delving into displacement, otherness, and social rejection. Born in Abruzzo in 1953, Perrotti trained in Milan, where he began his career at Tecno spa. Over time, he developed his studio, working on design and interior design projects for national and international brands, while always staying connected to the art world. In recent years, he has dedicated himself to artistic installations, sculpting and experimenting with the use of colour on unconventional surfaces.In 2019, his work ‘Dissuader’ was born — a metaphor embodied in a gigantic, allegorical pigeon made of stainless steel built on a birch wooden template and steel nails. The massive, highly symbolic piece represents the complex relationships between humans, as well as the interaction between humans and the natural environment. By crafting the object, the principles of design were merged with artistic expression. The exhibition was curated by Baronessa Factory (a creative hub composed of Mario Mariano, Franca Pasero, Ernani Paterra, Franco Perrotti e Bruna Rotunno) and organised by Franca Pasero.

Franco Perrotti creating his work.

The ‘Dissuader’ installations represent the artistic and creative process of the artist, mixing and arranging the themes and languages of his design making, with the content and representations of his art. The exhibition included 25 pieces, across two floors. On the ground floor, the Large Dissuaders and reinterpretations of details in different sizes were on display, made with a variety of materials. The walls featured video projections created by photographers and filmmakers Bruna Rotunno, Ernani Paterra and Enrico Di Nenno, interpreting the creative act behind Perrotti’s work.

In homage to Dubai Design Week, the exhibition also featured a few “design references”, such as a collection of sofas designed by Perrotti for the occasion, offering visitors a space to reflect on the artistic and poetic meaning of the works on display. Educated in the mid-1970s, he first studied in Pescara, and then in Milan, where he attended courses by Attilio Marcolli and Bruno Munari at the Scuola Politecnica di Design, immersing himself in the world of international design. He then began his collaboration with the Centro Progetti of Tecno Spa (1976-1986), a leading company in creating interior furnishings for work environments and collective spaces.

A view of Dissuader.

Perrotti was responsible for product design and interior design, designing catalogue products, layouts for renovations, and showroom installations in Italy and abroad. He also developed scenographic concepts for trade fairs and industry events. In 1986, he embarked on his career as an independent designer and founded the Perrotti Dissociati Design studio, which is still active and engaged in industrial and interior design projects, as well as architectural interventions. It marked the beginning of his collaborations with numerous prestigious companies. From 1989 to 1997, as Art Director, he collaborated with Faram Spa, a leading company in office solutions design, where he managed product design, communication, and installations. He also created a fresh line of home furnishings and developed the new graphic design for the Airon Metalarredo catalogue, a manufacturer of home and office furnishing accessories. During this time, he also designed auditorium chairs and armchairs for the Poltrona Frau brand.

In 1997, he left Milan to return to Abruzzo, where, along with Tanino Liberatore and the young architect Mario Mariano, he founded Rude Bravo Design Workshop, a laboratory for ideas, projects, products, and artifacts. Rude Bravo debuted the following year at the Fuori Salone in Milan with the exhibition ‘I 7 Peccati Capitali’ set up at Spazio Consolo. Together with Tanino Liberatore, Perrotti created works such as ‘L’Homme au turban rouge et son cousin’ in 2007, a two-door lamp inspired by Jan van Eyck’s painting. (Jan van Eyck was a Flemish painter and was one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art). As a publisher and designer, Perrotti curates products designed for limited editions and often creates unique pieces. For a decade, Rude Bravo has been a distinctive presence in the Italian design landscape. It forwards innovative and unconventional proposals.

Franco Perrotti designing his work.

With the studio ‘Officine d’Essai’, an architecture, art and interior design workshop founded in Pescara in 2012, the Rude Bravo Design Workshop project continues and expands, focused on studying and creating interior designs for private residences and showrooms, both in Italy and abroad. Among Perrotti’s notable institutional collaborations are those with the Archaeological Museum ‘La Civitella’ in Chieti, the MAR museum in Positano-Salerno, and the FRIMACT museum in Frigento-Avellino for museum installations, as well as collaborations with the Polytechnic School of Design in Milan, the Faculty of Architecture in Pescara, and ISIA Pescara Design, where he has taught lessons and seminars. “Dissuader is a thought, a reflection, a metaphor. I would love for it to be a scream. As time goes by, the world becomes more saturated with fences, obstacles, walls, guards, and patrol boats. And yet, we passed through Woodstock, and the dream was something else,” he says.