The works of Daniele Verdesca to celebrate 100 years of Toscanini

2020 was certainly an unusual year, but for us it was above all a year in which a milestone was reached, when Industrie Toscanini celebrated its 100th birthday. The initiatives for the celebration were many and various, and they included our contribution to the Arte Festival 2020 exhibition, an event which took place in Varallo Sesia in September, aimed at promoting the artistic and cultural activities of the Valsesia area. For this occasion, we decided to ask a number of artists to explore the coat hanger and its forms. Each of the artists we contacted contributed to sharing a part of our history with all the people involved in the world of Toscanini, and above all our friends, contributors, suppliers and customers.

The Toscanini coat hangers as an art form

Palazzo d’Adda was the perfect setting for the works created by Tommaso Verdesca, Daniele Verdesca, Fabio Nicola/Homo Faber, Christian Costa and Silvano Rotti, who amazed the visitors with their interpretation of our coat hangers in an artistic dimension, and not for the first time, even though each occasion is unique. Indeed, our creations first became “works of art” with the installation by the Albanian artist Anila Rubiku at the Venice Biennale exhibition of 2012.

Daniele Verdesca and Toscanini

We would like to introduce you to Daniele Verdesca, one of the artists who chose to imagine the Toscanini coat hangers as a work of art
A globetrotter in his own way, Daniele was born in the Salento area, but developed his art in Milan, where he attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. But for a man who loved open spaces and silence, the city soon became too restrictive and he chose Valsesia as his new home. It was here that his inner search found the dimension he was looking for, and he began to experiment with primitive materials such as wood and sandstone, which he works until the figures concealed within them emerge. His explorations of the indissoluble relationship between man and nature also express themselves in painting, which are characterised by the same material consistency so typical of his sculptures. Together with his son Tommaso, Daniele founded BorderLine Studio in 2019.

Daniele Verdesca created two sculptures for us, entitled “Giuseppe” and “Senza titolo” (Untitled). The first is a coat hanger inspired by the moustaches of his great grandfather Giuseppe, the enterprising “sawyer” originally from the Apennines around Piacenza, who moved to Valsesia in the early 20th century and laid down the bases for what was soon to become the family company. The hook of the coat hanger is reminiscent of the profile of his nose. An affectionate way to combine the past with the present, and to thank those who came before us. The second work is an “Untitled” coat hanger created by Verdesca which is characterised by the style that makes his works so distinctive. The coat hanger is a harmonic play of blocks and voids, lights and shadows, which create a dual sensation of lightness and weight, forcing the onlooker to explore its forms to appreciate their ever changing physicality.