Mutina x Nathalie bring alive Vittoria subway with ceramic installations

Modena-based contemporary ceramics brand Mutina recently renewed its collaboration with artist Nathalie Du Pasquier for a new special project. Passengers using the Vittoria subway station in Brescia, northern Italy, will now be welcomed by a vibrant visual at its entrance. The Milan-based artist and designer creates a permanent installation featuring Mattonelle Margherita.

The installation, dubbed ‘Mind the gap’, redefines the fruition of the space through original compositions of shapes and colours, obtained by using the ceramic elements of the collection. Inaugurated on February 17th 2022, the installation is part of SUBBRIXIA, which offers visitors a transcendental journey through the visions of contemporary art that winds its way underground in the 17 stations of the Brescia subway.

Banishing the banal, the installation invites all everyday passengers to change their perspective and open themselves to a heightened experience, transforming the entrance of the subway into an ‘other’ space that fluctuates between figuration and abstraction. “The experience of Mind the gap will involve the everyday life of all those people who, entering the subway station, will be invited to interpret the installation on different levels: from paying attention to the actual ‘gap’ to simply observing and being aware of its presence,” says Chiara Rusconi, member of UBI Fondazione CAB.

Renowned for her works with ceramics starting from the simplicity and functionality of the material, Pasquier keenly explores the infinite possible applications of the material owing to the collaboration with Mutina, that supported her in the development of the installation. Championing ceramic to become a primordial element for architectural construction, Pasquier uses the modules of Mattonelle Margherita, shaping it with patterns and colours; defining a new unexpected geometric landscape.

For the uninitiated, SUBBRIXIA is a project promoted and supported by UBI Fondazione CAB and realized by the Municipality of Brescia, Brescia Mobilità and Metro Brescia, with the curatorial coordination of NERO. Previously launched by Brescia Musei in 2015 with a series of site-specific interventions for the subway stations, has now paved its way into holding a permanent collection of public art for the city.

Milan based Nathalie Du Pasquier has worked as a designer, solely focused on creating textiles mostly surfaces, and is also one of the founding members of the Memphis Group. She adopted painting as her main activity, leaving a strong trail of new and unexpected directions for her practice since 1987. Her works have been featured in solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Wien, International Center of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, Galerie Fuer Zeitgenoessische Kunst in Leipzig, Apalazzo Gallery in Brescia, Pace Gallery in Seoul and at Anton Kern Gallery in New York.

Pasquier’s collaboration with Mutina lives up to the company’s vision – of representing ceramics beyond its usage as tiles but as an interior design project in its own right. Mutina frequently works with international designers such as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Inga Sempé, Patricia Urquiola and Tokujin Yoshioka, amongst others, sharing the same passions and a unique approach to the product, based on continuous research.