NUOVA MIXAGE UP | FLAVIO FAVELLI

Flavio Favelli (Florence, 1967) inherited from his family a deep sensitivity towards furniture design, an element that has significantly influenced his artistic journey.
Favelli’s visual language is characterized by a layered complexity that intertwines memory, identity, and the passage of time. His work focuses on how a person’s lived experience can manifest through objects and images imbued with meaning, rooting itself in time.
The artist collects and reworks materials from Italian artisanal and industrial traditions, transforming them into installations that redefine their identity from a contemporary perspective. His creative process is based on the selection and accumulation of objects, which are then recontextualized to stimulate reflection on the past and present.

A significant example of this practice is Nuova Mixage Up, a site-specific installation created in 2024 at the library of the Federico Zeri Foundation in Bologna. The artwork consists of 216 bottles of alcoholic beverages—collected by the artist over the years—from which the labels have been removed. Neatly arranged on four wooden shelves, the bottles include grappas, amari, liqueurs, and spirits, some distinguished by particular shapes that, without their labels, lose their immediate recognizability.
The installation plays with the viewer’s perception; no longer drawn to the contents of the bottles—unidentifiable due to the absence of branding and production details—one is instead captivated by their aesthetics and chromatic arrangement. The wooden shelves integrate seamlessly with those in the surrounding environment, creating an intriguing parallel between books and bottles, each of which could undoubtedly tell a fascinating story. However, in this context, it is the color of the liquid, the shape of the container, and sometimes the presence of internal elements—such as flavored fruits—that take over the narrative.

With Nuova Mixage Up, Favelli transforms the past encapsulated in objects into a new visual and formal experience, inviting the audience to question their own relationship with time and memory. His work is not merely an aesthetic operation but a profound reflection on the layering of lived experiences and the traces that objects leave in our collective imagination.

Flavio Favelli
Nuova Mixage Up, 2024
216 bottles of spirits stripped of their labels and displayed on 4 wooden shelves, each 268 x 191 x 33 cm
Installation view at Fondazione Federico Zeri, photo by Trapezio Roveda

Flavio Favelli, Nuova Mixage Up, 2024.
216 bottles of spirits stripped of their labels and displayed on 4 wooden shelves, each 268 x 191 x 33 cm.
Installation view at Fondazione Federico Zeri, photo by Trapezio Roveda.

19/03/25