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Project Room: Irene Cattaneo

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HANGOUTS: A GATHERING OF GLASS, IDEAS AND ARTISTS

HANGOUTS: A GATHERING OF GLASS, IDEAS AND ARTISTS
Dragon Hill

Dragon Hill

CONTACT

Nadja Romain

+44 7557 968304

info@lostudio-nadjaromain.com

Dorsoduro 928, Venice, 30123

Les Bienfaits de la Lune
Irene Cattaneo at Galerie Gastou, Paris
For her inaugural solo presentation at Galerie Gastou, Irene Cattaneo has taken a poetic turn. Her inspiration comes from the great French symbolist Charles Baudelaire, whose 1869 poem Les Bienfaits de la Lune describes a child graced by moonlight, which sets her on a lifelong path of aesthetic encounter. Taking this suggestive text as her point of departure, Cattaneo has created a magical suite of objects in a range of materials – bronze, glass, onyx, upholstery – all transmuted to give the effect of an enchanted nature. To enter the exhibition is like stepping into a pool of moonlight, surrounded by animate forms. Cattaneo is of Italian heritage, but was raised in Germany and trained at Central Saint Martin’s, in London; now she arrives in Paris, in grand style. This cosmopolitan outlook is reflected in her mastery of several traditional craft processes, notably metal casting, glass blowing, and stone carving, which she sometimes combines with advanced digital technology. Her intensive research and form development have generated an impressive body of work, subtle and indeed poetic in its narrative implications, but tremendously powerful in its physical presence.
Exhibitions
Project Room
Irene Cattaneo
The Project Room by Irene Cattaneo is a space in progress where the artist presents new works and develops the ideas for her upcoming shows. Hosted at Lo Studio Nadja Romain, it is neither a traditional artist’s studio nor a conventional gallery, but a hybrid context that functions both as a working environment and a place of display. Cattaneo’s practice is grounded in close collaboration with artisans. Without a permanent studio of her own, she works directly within their workshops, engaging with their techniques, materials, and know-how. Her pieces emerge through this fluid and hands-on process, a continuous exchange between concept, craft, and material transformation. Within this framework, The Project Room becomes both a physical and conceptual space where ideas are tested, and the work is experienced in dialogue with its surroundings. It is here that Cattaneo reflects on how her pieces relate to space, light, and to one another. Each visit offers a different view, an evolving installation, a newly finished piece, or a glimpse into what’s to come.
Memorie Alchemiche
On show at Il Palazzo Experimental, Venice
Memorie Alchemiche, curated by Davide Paoletti and Nadja Romain, features a diverse array of two artists who reinterpret the ancient practice of alchemy—not merely as a quest for gold, but as a metaphor for personal and collective transformation. Nicola Ghirardelli's sculptures resonate with a dialogue between art history, iconography, and the essence of the subjects they represent, revealing the anachronisms and evolving intentions within artistic expression. Drawing inspiration from archaeological artifacts and traditional ceramic techniques, Claudio Saviola breathes new life into the medium, creating pieces that defy linearity and embrace the multiplicity of forms. As you navigate the exhibition, you will encounter pieces that resonate with themes of nostalgia, loss, and rebirth, prompting introspection and dialogue. Memorie Alchemiche challenges us to consider how our past experiences influence our present and future, highlighting the beauty and complexity of human memory and art.
Dragon Hill
Irene Cattaneo at Dragon Hill, Mougins
Irene Cattaneo's works included in Dragon Hill and its Sculpture Park —designed by architect Jacques Coüelle — , exhibited alongside works of artists such as Antony Gormley and Gisela Colón.
Nestled in the South of France, the Dragon Hill property is one of five iconic Landscape Houses designed by visionary architect Jacques Couëlle as "inhabitable sculptures”, intentionally blurring the boundaries between art and environment.
Built in 1964, Dragon Hill has counted Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Yves Saint Laurent, Leo Castelli, Yves Klein and many others among its residents, and now welcomes a new generation of leading contemporary artists into its fold, both in the form of the artists-in-residence that cycle through the house and the new artworks now permanently installed in the grounds.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
HANGOUTS. A GATHERING OF GLASS, IDEAS AND ARTISTS
13 September - 11 October 2025 / Venice Glass Week 2025
Hangouts is Lo Studio – Nadja Romain’s ongoing series of group shows, where friends, collaborators, and new voices meet in conversation. Returning for The Venice Glass Week, this edition brings together vibrant works by Lucia Massari, Kimiko Yoshida, Irene Cattaneo, an open invitation to discover, connect, and linger.
INTRECCIATA VENEZIA
8 May - 15 October 2025 / Curated by Mehdi Dakhli
On the occasion of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Lo Studio presents the exhibition "Intrecciata Venezia", conceived and curated by designer Mehdi Dakhli and Nadja Romain. The exhibition views Venice as a centuries-old nexus of cultural exchange where architecture, history, and contemporary creation intertwine.

The show features Dakhli's new functional sculptures in conversation with works by international artists, including Joël Andrianomearisoa, Clément Gloaguen, Alexandre Philippe Franck, Abdoulaye Konaté, and Ibrahim Mahama. This polyphony of voices reflects Venice's enduring position as a bridge between East and West.
Meteomorphosis
11 April - 23 November 2024 / 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Irene Cattaneo’s signature motif is a cloud. What does a cloud look like? Meteorologists have identified ten primary types–but these can be broken down into dozens of “species.” Cirrus clouds–thin, wispy, streaklike–are found above 5,000 meters. The Floccus Cirrus is a Cirrus with a ragged, frayed base. Not to be confused with a Castellanus Cirrus, which has a more castle-like formation. When it comes to clouds, even taxonomists get poetic. Most of us, looking skywards, describe clouds in terms of the non-cloudlike things they resemble–creating an abundance of material for Freu dian analysis (pipes, dragons, mountains...). Since any given cloud can evolve into any other, they exist in a flux of descending, distending, congea ling, reddening, darkening. While clouds appear to be gaseous, they are actually composed of condensation and ice crystals. Just think–above us in the sky–great floating herds of crystals.
Laguna Antropica
11 April - 23 November 2024 / 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Bloko 748, the artistic duo comprised of Viktor Miklos and Antonio Davanzo, fuse highly calibrated tools such as 3D printing with inventively daring handcraft. Resins drip, finishes are sprayed, colors look hazardous, forms are looped and knotted and hacked into shape in a way that suggests not so much the making of furniture as a loosely coordinated attempt to keep a ship afloat during a storm—cobbling together all manner of materials and coatings into ad hoc forms which might, in some way, plug the leak. Behind their steroidally synthetic techniques lies a program of rigorous experimentation and a keen instinct for the nuances of composite engineering–the way that fabric can bolster the strength of resin, the way that resin can lend rigidity to a fabric.
Nomad Capri
06 - 09 JULY 2023 / 12th edition NOMAD
The Studio brings two installations to Nomad Capri. Tarek Shamma’s latest furniture collection, presented inside, has been entirely handcrafted in Egypt. Whilst Irene Cattaneo’s sculptures in the garden have been handblown in Murano glass. EIW’s presence in Capri illustrates its principle mission: combining worlds, showcasing artists, and honing time-honored skills. Keeping artisanal traditions alive with a contemporary approach.
Open Process
june 2023 - march 2024
"Open Process" puts in dialogue artists Ibrahim Mahama, Blokos 748 (Antonio Davanzo and Victor Miklos), and Irene Cattaneo. It is the inaugural exhibition of Venice-based platform Lo Studio Nadja Romain, where international artists, designers, and artisans interact with creatives based in Venice. The exhibition explores ideas around the very nature of making art, the special relation between artists and artisans, and how new technologies can become tools to produce art. In the context of Venice, the first international cultural and economical hub in history, "Open Process" interrogates the notion of cultural heritage and questions how trade, conflicts, and colonialism have shaped a common history from which we can build our future.
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