Vanni for Artissima presents Embrace by Elisa Alberti Artist's Sunglasses Collection

The new EMBRACE collection is born from the creative collaboration between VANNI and artist Elisa Alberti, winner of the VANNI #artistroom prize at Artissima 2023, and features two unique models of limited-edition acetate sunglasses.

The collection is inspired by the paintings and sculptural works of Alberti, reflecting her distinctive artistic style. To truly ap-preciate the design of the glasses, it is essential to be familiar with the artist’s work and style. Elisa Alberti works with both painting and graphic design, intuitively wielding a carefully defined repertoire of colours and shapes that is constantly varied and re-developed. Her artistic journey began with figurative motifs, often inspired by organic and botanical shapes which are then combined with abstract elements. Over time, these references have become increasingly reduced and abstract, eliminating any reference to an objective reality. A central element of her work lies in how she manages the intrinsic qualities of painting: the measured use of colour, the playful use of shapes, spatial composition, and attention to the tangibility of the material’s surface.

Elisa Alberti experiments with the relationship between colour, shape, and texture, using them to layer meaning onto the surface of her works. Her art thrives on contrast: she combines deep black surfaces with light and delicate tones, such as skin tones or soft greys and blues. Similarly, she juxtaposes rounded, soft shapes with sharp, straight lines. Another important aspect is the interplay of surfaces, varying between transparent and opaque coats, and between glossy and matte finishes.In some areas, the structure of the canvas remains deliberately visible.

Her three-dimensional works in coated aluminium are also inspired by small-format paintings on wood or canvas, where Alberti often paints over the edges. These painted edges extend beyond the confines of the canvas, emphasizing that each individual work represents only a small fragment of the overall artistic reality.

In the EMBRACE collection with VANNI, the central characteristics of Alberti’s artistic work can be found: the treatment of shapes, the use of colour, and the materiality of the surface. The temples of the sunglasses are crafted with the characteristic soft, curved shapes that define Alberti’s works. This rounded form extends from the temples to the front, where the lenses are located.

The contrasting colours shift depending on the perspective, converging at the front of the sunglasses. Here, the colours en-gage in a stark contrast: white/black and black/blue. This interaction of colours serves as a connecting element rather than a dividing one, inspiring the very name of the sunglasses: EMBRACE.
The sunglasses are made from acetate in order to provide the necessary surface for playing with shape and colour, thus giving it an object-like character.