Italian Faces
Sandro Chia
1993
Italian Faces is the first illy collection designed by one artist, Sandro Chia, one of the forerunners of the Transavant-garde. A discourse which is unraveled from cup to cup.
Man is the linking theme and stars in all Chia’s work, from the 70s till today.
For the illy collection he painted a gallery of faces, one for each Italian city: Venice, Siena, Milan, Trieste, Florence and Rome, which were then joined by a seventh cup, Pompeii, a very limited and therefore valuable item.
The artist, who has traveled the world and lives between Rome, Montalcino and New York,
represents Italy through faces which stare at the coffee drinker and play a intense, albeit
brief, game of exchanging glances.