Enzo Mari

Enzo Mari (27 April 1932 – 19 October 2020) was an Italian modernist artist and furniture designer who is known to have influenced many generations of industrial designers.
Early life and education.
Mari was born in Novara, Italy and he studied at the Brera Academy in Milan, Italy from 1952 to 1956.
Career.
He drew inspiration from the idealism of the arts and crafts movement and his political views as a communist.
From 1956 onward, he specialized in industrial design and created a portfolio of more than 2,000 works. In the 1960s, he published a series of books, including "The Apple and the Butterfly," a book of illustrations depicting the story of a caterpillar and an apple, without any text.
In the 1970s as a professor at The Humanitarian Society, he founded the Nuova Tendenza art movement in Milan. Also in that decade, he designed the Sof Sof chair and the "Box" chair. In 1974, Enzo Mari created a book entitled, "Autoprogettazione", which deals with the DIY construction of furniture. In the 1980s, he designed the modernist Tonietta chair.
Mari taught at University of Parma, the Accademia Carrara, and the Milan Polytechnic.
Multiple works by Mari have been on display at the Museum of Modern Art. He had retrospective shows in Turin, and an important presentation of his work in the "Adhocracy" show, during the first Istanbul Design Biennial. In addition, the Triennale, Milan is exhibiting a tribute to Mari, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli.
He donated the archive of his designs to the city of Milan on the condition that it may not be displayed for 40 years.
Personal life.
Mari married art critic, theoretician and performance artist Lea Vergine, in 1978. They had known each other since the 1960s. He died on 19 October 2020, at the age of 88, due to COVID-19, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. His wife died a day later, also from COVID-19.
Selected quotes.
-"Form is everything."
-"Design is dead."
-"I want to create models for a different society."