At Galerie Gastou in Paris, Irene Cattaneo unveils her first solo exhibition, a poetic exploration inspired by Charles Baudelaire’s 1869 poem Les Bienfaits de la Lune. The poem tells of a child blessed by moonlight, destined for a life of aesthetic discovery. Cattaneo transforms this literary motif into a spatial experience, creating a constellation of sculptural objects that evoke the quiet mystery of the night sky.
EXHIBITIONS
Bronze, glass, onyx, and upholstery come together in her compositions, each material altered to appear almost alive, as if touched by lunar energy. The exhibition feels immersive, entering it is like walking through a dream where forms seem to shift between organic and celestial. Cattaneo’s works balance solidity and delicacy, using texture and light to suggest transformation.
Of Italian heritage, raised in Germany, and trained at Central Saint Martins in London, Cattaneo brings a distinctly cosmopolitan sensibility to her Paris debut. Her practice combines deep knowledge of traditional craftsmanship, metal casting, glass blowing, stone carving, with a curiosity for advanced digital processes. This synthesis gives her work both historical resonance and contemporary tension.
Each piece reveals a narrative of metamorphosis. The surfaces glimmer with a tactile lyricism, suggesting nature not as static landscape but as an animate presence. Through material experimentation, Cattaneo imagines a world where the inanimate holds memory and emotion, where bronze breathes and glass glows from within.
Her research-driven approach results in forms that feel spontaneous yet intentional. Every curve, void, and texture captures a quiet power that extends beyond aesthetics into emotion. The exhibition radiates both intimacy and grandeur, as if the objects themselves carry fragments of moonlight.
Presented in collaboration with Lo Studio, Nadja Romain à Venise, Irene Cattaneo at Galerie Gastou runs until November 8th. With this exhibition, Cattaneo confirms her place among the most compelling new voices in contemporary design, offering a body of work that speaks in the language of poetry, light, and transformation.
