About
Martino Gamper OBE (b. 1971, Merano, Italy) lives and works in London. Starting as an apprentice with a furniture maker in Merano, Gamper went on to study sculpture under Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. He completed a Masters in 2000 from the Royal College of Art, London, where he studied under Ron Arad.
Working across design and art venues, Martino Gamper engages in a variety of projects from exhibition design, interior design, one-off commissions and the design of mass-produced products for the cutting edge of the international furniture industry.
Gamper has presented his works and projects internationally, selected exhibitions and commissions include:
‘Middle Chair’, The Modern Institute at Pollock House, Glasgow(2017); ’Below Stairs’, Sir John Soane Museum, London, Uk(2016); ’100 Chairs in 100 Days’, MIMOCA, Marugame, Japan (2015); ’design is a state of mind’,Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London (2014); ‘Period Room’, Palais De Tokyo, Paris; ’Tu casa, mi casa’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2013); ‘Bench Years’, London Design Festival commission, V&A Museum, London (2012); ʻGesamtkunsthandwerk’ (Karl Fritsch, Martino Gamper and Francis Upritchard), Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth – New Zealand (2011); Project for Café Charlottenborg, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen (2011); ‘Bench to Bench’, public street furniture in East London in collaboration with LTGDC (2011);‘A 100 chairs in 100 Days’, 5 Cromwell Place, London (2007);‘Wouldn't it be Nice...Wishful thinking in Art & Designʼ, Centre dʼ Art Contemporain, Genève (2007).
Gamper was the recipient of the Moroso Award for Contemporary Art in 2011, and the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, Furniture Award in 2008 for his project ‘A 100 Chairs in 100 days’.
Gamper was awarded an OBE in 2023 for services to Design.
Awards
Moroso Award for Contemporary Art, 2011
Wallpaper* Award for Best Use of Colour, 2011
Wallpaper* Award for Best Alchemist, 2008
Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, Winner of Furniture Award for ‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’, 2008
* Denotes solo exhibition
**Donotes catalogue
2014
‘Divina’, Kvadrat Showroom, Milan, It
‘Chair Lift’, Moroso Showroom, Milan, It
‘Period Room’, Palais De Tokyo, Paris, Fr
‘Edge of the Seat: The Artist’s Chair’, Large Glass, London, Uk
‘In A State of Repair’, Rinascente, Milan, It (in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery)
‘design is a state of mind’, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, Uk**
‘Makers Library’, British Council & V&A partnership, Cape Town, Za
‘The Future is Handmade’, Kalmarkonst Museum, Kalmar, Se
‘Arbeitsraum Suedtirol’ Bayerischer Kunstgewerbe-Verein, Munich, De
2013
‘Trade Show’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, Uk
‘Tu casa, mi casa’, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, Uk*
‘ICA Off-Site: A Journey Through London Subculture: 1980s to Now’, ICA, The Old Selfridges Hotel, London, Uk
‘100 Chairs in 100 Days’, Benaki Museum, Athens, Gr*
‘Jason Dodge/ Martino Gamper’, American Academy In Rome, It
2012
‘Bench Years’, London Design Festival commission, V&A Museum, London, Uk
'Synesthesia', M+B Gallery, Los Angeles, Us
'METAMORPHOSIS_Behind, After or Beyond', Milano, It
'A Drawing While Waiting for an Idea', Large Glass, London, Uk
'Bauhaus Live', Aram Gallery, London, Uk
'Scott Burton' curated by Oscar Tuazon, Foundazione Giuliani, Rome, It
‘Glow Rod Tanning with....’, Kerstin Brätsch with Martino Gamper, Gio Marconi, Milan, It
‘D'Apres Giorgio’, Casa Museo Giorgio de Chirico, Rome, It
‘Le Sentiment des Choses/ The Feeling of Things’, Le Plateau, Paris, Fr
2011
‘Condominium’, Galleria Franco Noero, Torino, It*
‘Reason Design Emotion’, Beijing International Design Triennial, China
‘MetaDomestic’, Landesgalerie, Linz, At
‘Totem & Taboo’, Museums Quartier, Wien, At
‘Glass Scene’, Villa Noailles, Hyres, Fr
‘KnowHow’, Campbell Works, London, Uk
‘Atomi’, Nilufar Gallery, Salone del Mobile, Milano, It
‘Gesamtkunsthandwerk’, a collaboration with Martino Gamper, Francis Upritchard, Karl Fritsch, Govett Brewster, New Plymouth, Nz
‘Overlap’, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
‘New Olds’, Design Museum Holen, Il
2010
‘100 Chairs en 100 Jours de 100 Maniѐres’, Englise Saint-Pierre, Site Le Corbusier de Firminy, Fr*
‘Bart Wells Boutique’, 235 Brompton Road, Uk
‘TechnoCRAFT’, YBCA, San Francisco, Usa
‘Book Show’, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, Uk
‘Get It Louder, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou’, British Council, London, Uk
‘Profusion’, Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, Uk
‘Totem and Taboo, Sant’ Ambrogio, Milan, It**
‘Design By Performance’, Z33, Hasselt, Be
‘Keep Your Seat’, GAM, Torino, It**
‘21x21’, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, It
2009
‘Stanze e Camere + 100 Chairs in 100 Days’, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, It*
‘Sitting and Seating’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘Autoprogettazione Revisited’, Architectural Association, London, Uk
‘Chair Arch’, with *Wallpaper & Ercol, V&A Museum, London, Uk
‘Boule to Braid’, Curated by Richard Wentworth, Lisson Gallery, London, Uk
‘Super Contemporary’, Design Museum, London, Uk
‘U.F.O Art & Design’, NRW Forum, Dusseldorf, De**
‘Beyond Kiosk - Modes of Multiplication’, Mudam, Luxembourg
‘Feierabend’, Kate MacGarry Gallery, London, Uk
‘Gio Ponti Translated’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘SuperStories", Triennial of contemporary art, fashion and design, Hasselt, Be**
2008
‘Nowhere Now Here Now’, LABoral, Gijón-Asturias, Es**
‘Mollino-Gamper, Frieze Art Fair, Salon 94, London, Uk
‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, Somerset House, London, Uk**
‘Inspirations’, Conran, London, Uk
‘Undiszipliniert’, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Au**
‘Flight of the Dodo’, Project, Dublin, Ie
‘Manifesta7’, Fortezza/ Fanzensfeste, It
‘Here There and Everywhere’, Leeds Met, Leeds, Uk
‘Receiving’, Wright, Chicago, Usa*
‘Designer of the Future’, Design Miami, Basel, Ch
‘Salone del Mobile’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘Total Trattoria’, The Aram Gallery, London, Uk*
‘Designer of the Year’, Design Museum, London, Uk – winner of furniture category**
‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, Ch**
2007
‘Cose’, Galleria Prisma, Bolzano, It
‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Genève, Ch**
‘Gio Ponti Translate by Martino Gamper’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘A 100 chairs in 100 Days’, 5 Cromwell Place, London, Uk*
‘Getting it Louder’, British Council traveling exhibition, Guangzhou, China**
‘If Gio Only Knew’, design performance, Design Miami/ Basel, Basel, Ch
‘Salone del Mobile’, Nilufar Gallery, Milano, It
‘Confronting the Chair’, solo show, Design Museum, London, Uk*
2006
‘Chairs for Walking-Chair’, Walking Chair Gallery, Wien, Au*
‘No Entry’, with Ron Arad, Chain, Chain, Chain Gallery, London, Uk
‘Miss-Fit’, Freiraum Museumsquartier, Wien, Au
‘Seequence’, Chain, Chain, Chain Gallery, London, Uk
‘Tigenes’, National Gallery, Oslo, Norway**
‘Talents’, Ambiente, Messe Frankfurt, De
2005
‘Zoo Art Fair’, in collaboration with M+R Gallery, London, Uk
‘Book Corner at Frieze Lounge’ exhibition design for Frieze Art Fair, London, Uk
‘Plans for Other Days’ exhibition with Janfamily , Lungomare Gallery Bozen, It
‘Martino, Rainer, Maki & Kajsa say: Guten Apetitt’, Design Mai, Berlin, De
‘Britain Loves Fashion’, traveling exhibition British Council Chongqing, China
2004
‘We Connect’, with åbäke at Studio Camuffo, Venezia, It
‘10 X 10’, 100% design, Earls Court, London, Uk
‘What Martino did between 2000-2004’, Book exhibition at M+R Gallery, London, Uk
‘A40’ carpet exhibition at Aram Gallery, London, Uk
‘Some Furniture I've Always Wanted to Make’, M+R Gallery, London, Uk*
2003
‘Inside-out’, Lungomare Gallery, Bozen, It
‘Oxo Peugeot Design Awards’, Oxo Tower, London, Uk
‘Walking Carpet’, Village Fete, with Eddy Mundy, V&A, London, Uk
‘Waste to Taste’, Sotheby’s, London, Uk
‘The Book Corner’, traveling exhibition, Vilnius book fair, Vilnius, Lithuania
‘Design-UK’, Viaduct shop, London, Uk
2002
‘Book Corner’, traveling exhibition, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
‘Woodlands’, installation, Bloomberg Headquarters, London, Uk
‘Book Corner’, traveling exhibition, Art & Photograph Gallery, London, Uk
‘Coming Home’, light installation, Design Museum, London, Uk
‘Book Corner’ traveling exhibition, British council, Milano, It