Sandrino The Butcher arrives in London

On display in the famous Harrods windows till May 10, 2017 Sandrino the Butcher is the first Art-Design project by Visionnaire, conceived by the designer Alessandro La Spada.

The installation, exhibited in preview at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) on March 30, is involved in the Art Partners initiative by Harrods, aimed at celebrating the excellence of contemporary design, by fostering the cooperation between luxury brands and renowned creatives.

Sandrino the Butcher results from the lively imagination of Alessandro La Spada and underlies a tribute to the work of his grandfather, a butcher and restaurant owner whose daily gestures have been transposed into a series of Art-Design pieces: the kitchen tools - cleavers, knives and hooks for hanging meat - have been released from their original functionality to become eclectic creations of pure aesthetic beauty.

The Steak stool features an original seat in red lacquered steel, anchored to a slaughter hook made in cast brass with galvanic golden finish. Three knives in different shapes support the seat.

The top of Never on Sunday console is made of red jasper with natural veins. A series of decorations and irregular chains in cast brass with golden finishes end with hooks, hatchets and knives. The feet of the console recall the ancient meat tenderizers.

An elegant lamp with red lampshade is hanged on the mirror, broken by a golden cleaver which has been stuck exactly to its middle - hence the name Cleaver Mirror. The symbolic launch of the kitchen tool generates tens of cracks, gently backlit with LED for a more scenic effect.

Sandrino the Butcher represents a consideration on the existence through the “Doppelgänger”, a sort of twin that belongs to every human being and with whom anyone can alternate unconsciously. The manufactures are the liberating motion of this reflection, which investigates on the appeal of shape as mere visual art, free from the functional pragmatism of the object. The limited edition includes fifty stools, eight consoles and mirrors.

Since 2005 Visionnaire and the designer Alessandro La Spada have been working together to create a contemporary and unconventional range
of furniture and home accessories, sharing a common concept of luxury interiors oriented to fashion and lifestyle, all Made in Italy.