Late capitalist future: a game played by New Art Milano

Thirty-years-old designer and artisan Davide Origoni is using his dad's old place in central Milan as studio and showroom. Sculptures and plastic models of varying sizes fill the industrial shelves, while a group of larger-scale vessels stand on a row of pedestals in the corner. Painted canvas, panels from theatrical sets, metal parts and marble fragments fill the rest of the space, the majority of which bear a viscous-looking black finish. Davide is exploring some of the darkest issues of our times, like the over-exploitation of nature, inequality and a dystopian, late capitalist future. 

So you never leave Milan?

Yes, we have our studio here. I was born and raised in Milan. I work with my dad, he started working when he was very young, I learned a lot from him. At that time there were no goldsmith schools, so you would go into the shops and learn. 

You learned from your dad.

Yes, but first I graduated in architecture at Politecnico. While I was looking for a job, I was learning jewellery making with my dad, and I loved it and decided to continue working on this. 

You work a little bit with everything.

Yes, we actually do. Gold and silver are the main materials. Precious stones and pearls. We also made a line with Plexiglas. We have innovation and tradition.

You found many clients.

Our main market is Lombardy and northern Italy, therefore Piedmont, Liguria, Veneto. Then we also moved to Umbria, the Marche. We also collaborated with shops in Sicily, then abroad we were in Switzerland, France. 

The last Project? Is it finished?

We just finished it in time for HOMI, we focused a lot on pink nine-karat gold, it’s a nice material to work with and also as a final result it’s very interesting. And then we combined it with stones, which are all natural and all different, and in fact those are practically small unique pieces.

Is it about Milan?

I think there is a lot of Milan in our collections. Having grown up here, with all these influences, from fashion,and international innovation and style, you can see that in our pieces. They are all handmade, so the quality of the finished product is higher.

You travel to find the materials you want to transform? Where do you find them?

At other fairs, the stones must also be seen in person to understand exactly how it looks and feels. Then we have a friend of ours who is a stone cutter, he is an excellent connoisseur so he advises us from time to time, based on our type of production. 

NEW ART MILANO will be exhibiting at HOMI FASHION&JEWELS EXHIBITION 16 - 19 September 2022
A dedication to sustainability, craftsmanship, design and manufacturing with the ultimate accuracy. HOMI FASHION&JEWELS EXHIBITION explores a cultural challenge, is sustainability an utopian fantasy or a possibility?