In a 2020 obituary on the Italian modernist Enzo Mari, the reporter Penelope Green wrote that he “was known as much for his grumpy pronouncements on the state of design—which he disdained as mostly unnecessary and a waste of labor and material—as for his own designs.” Born in 1932 in Novara, Italy, Mari grew up a Marxist. After dropping out of high school to help support his family, he attended the Brera Academy of Fine Art because it did not require a high school diploma. A staunch critic of the luxury produced by the design industry, Mari later began creating affordable yet beautiful objects and furniture. “He really wanted to get rid of this idea of commerce, industry, and advertising,” said the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. Arriving in London after its debut at the Triennale Milano in 2020, this retrospective spans Mari’s 60-year career and presents hundreds of his works.
—Jeanne Malle