artist felipe pantone adds pixelated patterns to poltrona frau’s archibald armchair

Poltrona Frau’s 110th Anniversary

Poltrona Frau celebrates its 110th anniversary by tapping Argentinian-Spanish artist Felipe Pantone, fueled by their shared belief in an analog past and a digitized future. The collaboration gives birth to the reinvention of the Archibald armchair – one of the brand’s iconic models – as the artist splashes his signature prism of neon gradients, geometric shapes, optical patterns, and jagged grids into the classic design of the seat.

Pantone used Poltrona Frau’s ColorSphere as his inspiration and created a grid pattern that vibrates across Archibald’s leather surface, one that resembles the cool and warm temperatures of a heat map. The base and slender metal legs of the chair – finished with Multicolor Natural Chrome – leave a purplish-blue iridescent finish that glints under the light. The Anniversary Limited Edition Archibald makes use of Poltrona Frau’s new ‘Impact Less’ leather, a chrome-free material that requires less water and consumption of chemical components.

Images Courtesy of Poltrona Frau

Meet Felipe Pantone

Based in Spain, Pantone turns to the technological age and quizzes the mysteries devoured and divulged through the Internet. As a result, he explores the displacement of the light spectrum through color and repetition. He keeps this philosophy in mind as he wanders around the headquarters of Poltrona Frau, observing the collection, drafts, history, and archives of the brand.

‘We ended up choosing Archibald as the base for my work because of its minimal frame, but also the unique characteristics like the arms of the chair and the details on the backrest. The idea was to use a very minimal and iconic design and to juxtapose it against my graphics, which are very loud and very dynamic,’ the artist says.

Artist Felipe Pantone

The Process

Inside a dark room, the only source of light available to Pantone comes from his computer screen where rainbow-hued tiles overlap and wash his face and his room with a glow. He refines the palette of the tiles on his screen, saves the file, and walks out of the room to his workspace.

Here, he hangs a cloth, his primary material, on the wooden frame. With his gas mask on, he snatches a spray paint from his wheeled library of cans beside him and tests its color on the canvas, a shade of dark purple appearing on his canvas. The creation process begins, and Pantone, donning his customized uniform with his name engraved on the upper arm of the sleeve, closes himself off to the world as he enters his creative zone.

Soon, the trial transitions into a solid look: mini-square blocks in luminous colors, a reflection of a pixelated image witnessed in low-resolution videos. Together with Poltrona Frau, Pantone prints the design over the leather material of the Archibald armchair, giving the once monotone seat the blessings of his digital world-inspired touch.

‘Color only happens because of light, and light is the only reason why life happens,’ says Pantone. ‘Light and color are the very essences of visual art. Thanks to television, computers, and modern lighting, our perception of light and color has changed completely.’ Through the limited-edition armchair, Pantone translates the prolonged screen time of the people living in the age of modern technology into a permanent fixture that brightens up the home.

Artist Felipe Pantone adds pixelated patterns to Poltrona Frau’s Archibald armchair

Limited Edition

As a nod to Poltrona Frau’s 110th anniversary this year, only 110 pieces of Archibald Limited Edition will be made and available for purchase through Poltrona Frau’s e-commerce channel, flagship stores, and select dealers worldwide. Each armchair will come with a custom-made clutch made of Pelle Frau Allure leather, a signed certificate of authenticity as well as a dedicated Pelle Frau leather cleaning kit.

A hand-made miniature scale model of the armchair in leather will also be available for purchase to give fans and followers of both Felipe Pantone and Poltrona Frau an opportunity to own a product of their collaboration as a souvenir.

According to the brand, the Limited Edition armchair and the project can be explored online in April and during Milan’s 2022 Salone del Mobile design week from June 7th to 12th at Poltrona Frau’s via Manzoni flagship showroom where there will be a physical installation to showcase the brand’s entire 2022 True Evolution Collection, and a dedicated digital installation that will feature the work of Felipe Pantone.

The Poltrona Frau Museum in Tolentino will also feature a dedicated display of the armchair coupled with “larger-than-life” murals created by the artist celebrating the 110th Anniversary of Poltrona Frau.

The base and slender metal legs of the chair are finished with Multicolor Natural Chrome