Flavio Favelli's 'Profondo Oro' at Gori Tessuti Factory

Flavio Favelli (Florence, 1967) is the second artist featured in Arte in Fabbrica, an exhibition space at Gori Tessuti e Casa in Calenzano, near Florence. The show, titled Profondo Oro and curated by Pietro Gaglianò, presents new works created specifically for the factory, including installations, sculptures, and a large permanent mural on an exterior facade. The project is promoted by Gori Tessuti e Casa, a company founded in the 1940s in Prato by Giuliano and Giuseppina Gori, later moving to Calenzano. In the 1970s, the Gori family relocated to Villa di Celle, where Giuliano hosted international artists, founding the Collezione di Arte Ambientale della Fattoria di Celle. His sons Fabio and Paolo Gori expanded the business globally, supplying fabrics for films like Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin, Marco Polo, and La La Land. In 2019, with Galleria Farsetti of Milan, they launched Arte in Fabbrica; the first artist was Vittorio Corsini, curated by Marco Scotini. Favelli's Profondo Oro reflects on Italian history and society, particularly the post-war economic boom's aspiration to luxury and well-being. His works include furniture installations symbolizing bourgeois worldview, and pieces where gold refers not to metal but to a conceptual patina covering objects, mentality, culture, economy, and politics. A 120-square-meter gold mural will remain permanently on the factory exterior. The exhibition runs until March 28, 2021.