Battista Luraschi
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Life, style & influence
Biography and Artistic Influences
Battista Luraschi has developed his artistic path through a coherent and rigorous research practice that, from the very beginning, has been rooted in a project-based dimension rather than traditional modes of expression. His work originates in drawing and in a deep reflection on the very act of designing, understood not as a preliminary phase for a future work, but as a complete and self-sufficient artwork.
A long and uninterrupted sequence of drawings accompanies his research over time. This continuous production recalls, in both attitude and intensity, the celebrated series of angels by Paul Klee — awkward, earthly figures unable to ascend toward the divine. Similarly, Luraschi’s projects appear destined to remain in a state of suspension, conceived as ideas that struggle to translate into a habitable reality. Within this gap between thought and realization lies the most authentic core of his work.
It is in this context that Archilus emerges — a symbolic and conceptual figure synthesizing Luraschi’s imaginative universe. Archilus is not a character, but a mental condition, an operative principle inhabiting impossible architectures, metaphysical structures, and spaces that are theoretically buildable yet fundamentally unlivable. Luraschi thus operates in a territory where the project becomes narrative and architecture acquires a poetic dimension, suspended between rational rigor and functional absurdity.
During his years at the Academy, he explored investigations related to modular and combinable elements, creating small pictorial reliefs in which space and environment become central protagonists. The reference to Constructivism is evident, as is his interest in Romanesque architecture, observed as a formal system capable of generating order, rhythm, and repetition.
His works
Types of Works and Techniques
Battista Luraschi’s production encompasses drawings, watercolors, paintings, and sculptures, often presented as maquettes, prototypes, or models of hypothetical objects and architectures. Painting itself is frequently conceived in relation to a possible three-dimensional realization, suggesting a latent plastic dimension that nevertheless remains intentionally unresolved.
Recurring themes include the house and the world of objects, consistently depicted as unstable presences, unsuitable for use and placed within cramped or paradoxical spaces. The relationship between architecture and object generates conditions of deliberate uninhabitability, where design logic is pushed to the threshold of the absurd. The titles of the works play a fundamental role, functioning as true narratives that evoke possible functions or scenarios without ever resolving into concrete destinations — often incorporating anagrams and wordplay.
From a technical perspective, Luraschi experiments with unconventional materials, such as Sicoffset, a plastic support that reinforces the idea of an industrial surface and potential serial production. His exploration of three-dimensionality also leads to the use of the folder (cartellina), an industrial and modular object transformed into a constructive and sculptural element. From a simple functional device, the folder evolves into volume, structure, and miniature architecture.
During the 1980s, his work entered into dialogue with the experiences of the New Futurism, partly through his encounter with the Inga Pin group and artists such as Marco Lodola, Plumcake, Silvio Abate, Innocente, and Postal. Crucial critical support came from Renato Barilli, who in 1987 involved Luraschi in an exhibition at Galleria Murnik.
In 1985, Galleria Giuli presented an exhibition featuring his paintings and several pieces of furniture, confirming the natural extension of his research into the realms of object and design, in an ideal dialogue with the investigations of Bruno Munari and the notion of sculpture as a mobile and mental device.
The Mandelli Arte Method
Mandelli Arte cultivates a distinctive relationship with artists: we value not only their vision and artistic language, but also the person, the story, and the identity behind the works. For this reason, we are proud to present Battista Luraschi to our collectors, recognizing the coherence and originality of a research practice that transforms architecture, design, and the industrial object into tools for reflecting on space, dwelling, and the very limits of functionality.
The gallery highlights Luraschi’s profile as an artist whose work is both rigorous and visionary, moving fluidly among Constructivism, Metaphysics, and the culture of Italian design, while constructing a deeply contemporary and recognizable visual language. Pralina No. 88, dedicated to Battista Luraschi, explores these themes, offering an essential key to understanding a universe populated by conceptual angels, impossible architectures, and forms suspended between idea and matter.
Battista Luraschi is thus an ideal artist for the unconventional collector, one who seeks to enrich a collection with inimitable, unique, and vividly colored works marked by a powerful artistic identity.
For information about the works of Battista Luraschi and his artistic journey, please contact Mandelli Arte:
galleria@mandelliarte.com
