Studio Ponis: The Crystal and the Flame

– Irina Davidovici, Niall Hobhouse, Alex Pillen, Jonathan Sergison and Annarita Zalaffi

On Friday 20 June, Drawing Matter welcomed Annarita Zalaffi, Jonathan Sergison, Irina Davidovici, and Alex Pillen to the archive for a conversation about the work of Studio Ponis in Sardinia, and Alberto Ponis and Annarita Zalaffi’s working relationship.

The conversation marked the opening of an exhibition of drawings from the collection for two early projects, the Yacht Club Path (1965) and Casa Scalesciani (1977), including material that Drawing Matter has not yet published. Also on display was a collaborative drawing made during Kirsty Badenoch’s recent workshop in the archive, a photobook of images documenting the drawing’s creation, and two short films by Team Shichai, originally made for the exhibition ‘Drawing Landscape’ at Tongji University (2023). The exhibition was open on Saturday 21 June and Sunday 22 June.

Our thanks to Marta Ponis for valuable commentary, and to Marina Aldrovandi for translating.

Moderator: Niall Hobhouse
Questions and commentary: Marta Ponis, Kenneth Frampton, Brendan Woods, Jesper Authen