This London Exhibition Highlights the Particular Pleasure of Mixing New and Historical Works

If you’ve read our book, you probably know by now that mixing vintage and contemporary pieces is one of the many keys to our heart. So we were excited last month to see that the East London–based gallery and design shop Spazio Leone — who we know primarily as a purveyor of wonderfully Postmodern and classic collectible pieces — was presenting new works by the Eindhoven-based Italian designer Francesco Pace of Tellurico, alongside some of the more delightful objects drawn from Spazio Leone’s collection. “Part of what drew me to historical pieces initially was the exceptional quality and skill in the design, something which can be rare in our current era,” says Spazio founder Gennaro Leone. “But there are incredibly talented designers coming through now, too, and if we want our current period to become part of design history, then it’s important we celebrate their work, and help support them to grow.”

“‘Tellurico: ‘modernissimo’” featured more than 20 works that blur the line between furniture and sculpture, with a focus on dissonant textures. Pace’s work, for his part, often features stucco or Jesmonite, two materials with a distinctly nubby feel; newly commissioned works include a trio of grooved wood pedestals stained a brilliant cadmium red. Leone’s vintage works included a columnar lamp made from layers of paper; a sculpted metal wall mirror; a fiberglass snail lamp from the ’70s by Sergio Camilli; and a very 1990s Pixar-esque Gaetano Pesce lamp called Salvatore. The exhibition is now closed, but some of the vintage pieces live on in Leone’s collection. Take a peek at some of our favorite views below.

PHOTOS BY GENEVIEVE LUTKIN