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Celebrating the larger-than-life Prototype no. 000-F for Moloch floor lamp by the late Italian designer Gaetano Pesce now on display at NGV International, Abraham Thomas, Curator of Architecture and Design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York joins us to reflect on the life and career of one of the twentieth century’s most influential designers.
In Melbourne as part of Observations, Thomas takes audiences on a journey through Pesce’s remarkable life and career, and discusses his provocative Moloch floor lamp, 1971-72, within the context of the Radical Design movement of 1960s and 1970s Italy.
Abraham Thomas is the Daniel Brodsky Curator of Modern Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Previous positions include the Smithsonian Institution where he was Curator-in-Charge of the Renwick Gallery, and Senior Curator at the Arts and Industries Building. Prior to this, in London, he worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum as Curator of Designs, and served as Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum. Recent publications include Suspended Moment: The Architecture of Frida Escobedo, and his exhibitions include, for the Met, Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph and the 2023 Roof Garden Commission by Lauren Halsey; at the V&A, Heatherwick Studio: Designing the Extraordinary and Owen Jones: A Higher Ambition; and for the Sainsbury Centre, Superstructures: The New Architecture 1960-1990. He has served on the jury of the LOEWE Foundation Craft Prize since 2022, and he has been a Trustee of Penland School of Craft in North Carolina since 2018.
Abraham Thomas is in Melbourne for Observations – NGV’s annual program of events that invites close examination of the NGV Collection, and unlocks its stories through the eyes of international researchers, curators, and writers.
Observations is generously supported by an anonymous donor.
Art and design are windows to the worlds of their creators, times and places. They can pull the past into our present, providing glimpses into different societies, values, and innovations. Observations positions the NGV Collection as such a window – offering perspectives on art and design, of the past and the present, to explore how creativity impacts our understanding and experience of the world.
Observations series was named after the first instructional text on painting believed to have been written by a woman artist, a 1633 manuscript by English artist Mary Beale. Observations invites close examination of works and periods in the NGV Collection, through the eyes of international researchers, curators, and writers. Spanning in person and live-streamed events, as well as publications and online videos, we can not only learn about how art and design is made, but also how it chronicles, reflects and responds to its social and cultural context – and what this might illuminate about life today.