Description:

Mattia Biagi
(Italy, b. 1974)
Teddy Porno, 2011
Stuffed Tedy bear, tar and magazine collage on card in plexi-box
one of an edition of five similars

  • Provenance: Footnote
    As a child growing up in Italy, the artist-designer Mattia Biagi was enthralled when he saw the films of Federico Fellini on TV. "His sets transport you to a completely different planet, someplace I wanted to go," he recalls. "Even though my mom and dad said that didn't exist.
    No matter. In the past two decades, Biagi, who first gained fame for dipping household objects in black tar, has found novel ways to create new realities. Now, living in Los Angeles, he has built a starkly elegant world that nods to Fellini's 1972 classic Roma with a distinctive Hollywood twist. In his imaginative exhibition "Metropolitan Sets," which runs through February 26, Biagi transforms Badd House, the recently renovated event space created in the remains of the classic Oscar after-party haunt Spago, into a striking art installation.
    As a blond, tattooed Italian teenager, Biagi became a sought-after model for such fashion designers as Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. "I remember going to warehouses where there was nothing, and on the day of the show, it was completely transformed into Versailles," he recalls of his time on the runway. "This way of changing space made me interested in design." A chance encounter in the Romeo Gigli showroom with Giulio Cappellini led to a 15-year gig at the famed Italian furniture manufacturer.
    In 2004, Biagi relocated to Los Angeles, where he currently multitasks as an artist, furniture and interior designer and member of the creative team at the L.A. branch of Italian furniture firm Minotti. His 2006 "House of Tar" show at Twentieth — featuring tar-dipped chandeliers, musical instruments and teddy bears — was a breakthrough, positioning him in the deconstructed luxury realm typified by Maarten Baas's Smoke collection for Moooi. from Introspective, 1stDibs
  • Dimensions: 17 1/2 x 11 in. (44 1/2 x 28 cm.)
  • Medium: Stuffed Tedy bear, tar and magazine collage on card in plexi-box
  • Condition: Plexi-box framed, sculptural collage. 17 1/2 x 11 in. (44 1/2 x 28 cm.) Very good overall.

    All items are sold as is and are not subject to return. All lots must be collected no later than Friday, April 24th, by 5:00 PM PST. Lots not removed by this deadline will incur storage fees of $10 per lot, per day. No exceptions. No condition reports will be provided. Additional photos are subject to availability.

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April 20, 2026 10:00 AM PDT
Los Angeles, CA, US

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