Irene Cattaneo (Photo by Ilaria Zago courtesy of Lo Studio - Nadja Romain)
Irene Cattaneo (b. 1989) is a German-Italian artist whose practice ranges from sculpture and functional pieces to wearable art, set design, and large-scale installations. After relocating to Venice in 2021 to collaborate with local artisans, she developed the Clouds and Coulds series, which became the starting point for the motifs defining her recent explorations in sculptural design. Distinguished by crisp silhouettes, graphic concision, and the playful compression of iconic symbols into functional objects, Cattaneo's designs range widely in scale and medium, with particular emphasis on glass, bronze, and stone. Her focus on the phenomenology of artisanal glass production forms the foundation of her design vernacular, while literature, personal history, and clever wordplay serve as the conceptual throughlines of her oeuvre.
Since her solo debut Yūgen during Venice Glass Week in 2021, Irene Cattaneo has exhibited widely across Italy and internationally. In 2024, she unveiled the in-situ installation Carpe(t) Diem at La Samaritaine / LVMH in Paris, followed by Just My Cup of Tea(r)s at Homo Faber in Venice. That same spring, her solo exhibition Meteomorphosis was presented at Lo Studio-Nadja Romain in conjunction with the Venice Art Biennale. Her work has also been featured in multiple editions of Glasstress-alongside artists such as Ai Weiwei, Tony Cragg, and Erwin Wurm-most recently at the Boca Raton Museum of Art as part of the international survey.
Cattaneo joined Gaetano Pesce and Misha Kahn as an artist for Meritalia editions and is included in the Dragon Hill Sculpture Park-designed by architect Jacques Coüelle-alongside artists such as Antony Gormley and Gisela Colón. Her practice continues to gain recognition in the United States, with a recent group exhibition and auction at Dallas Contemporary and, most notably, her New York solo debut: Through the Looking Glass, an immersive installation in the drawing room of Ashlee Harrison's Upper East Side townhouse salon.
Cattaneo's next solo exhibition will take place in October 2025 at Yves Gastou during Art Basel Paris, centered on Charles Baudelaire's prose poem Les Bienfaits de la Lune.