This past spring I was lucky enough to have an all access visit to Frieze, the contemporary art show in New York.  Now even months after the show, one artist that has stayed with me is Loris Cecchini (b.1969), a Milanese-born, Italian contemporary artist with a vast repertoire of styles, working in photography, drawing, and sculpture creating pieces with a decidedly organic feel.  This is one artist who is pushing our notion of art, and for his recent show at Galleria Continua in Beijing (they are an Italian gallery that opened their space in China in 2005 in an effort to introduce international artists to the country), Cecchini is showing a series of functional steel sculptures that I first saw at Frieze.

What I like about these captivating welded steel sculptures is that they are an easy fit into an interior space.  They are sturdy enough for the kids to climb over and could be used indoors or outdoors as conversation pieces.  I love the amoeba-like massing of the steel elements.  The way the pieces are set gives the illusion of a free-form mass that might just blow away if you’re not careful.  These are big pieces of art, but I think of them as light as air – maybe because they remind me of the Styrofoam peanuts used for packing boxes?