Ceramics Exhibition “Oltre l’intersezione in-attesa” at the Museum of Earthenware

The Faience Museum is delighted to present its upcoming temporary exhibition on the theme of ceramics, entitled ‘OLTRE L'INTERSEZIONE IN-ATTESA’.

‘OLTRE L'INTERSEZIONE IN-ATTESA’ literally translates as ‘Beyond the intersection in waiting’.

We could say ‘At the crossroads of art’, as this reflects the artists' intentions.

The exhibition, presented by the Sète association and organised by Andrea MAESTRELLI, explores the dialogue between cultures, styles and eras through ceramics.

The works of Sergio PILASTRI and Alessio LONDI narrate waiting and transformation.

Alessio LONDI and Sergio PILASTRI are two artists who share the same cultural background for this project: the ceramic tradition of Montelupo expressed in complementary languages.

It was from their human and artistic encounter that the idea for this joint exhibition sprang.

The curators of this exhibition are: Maurizio GALANTE, renowned Italian fashion designer and knight of arts and letters, and Tal LANCMAN, designer and trend setter who exhibits in the world's greatest museums.

The Faience Museum is delighted to host this exhibition, which bears witness to the close ties between Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and Montelupo-Fiorentino in this year marking the 30th anniversary of the twinning of these two ceramics towns.

Through some twenty pieces, visitors will be able to discover another field of ceramic expression combining tradition and contemporary creation.

Montelupo-Fiorentino & Moustiers-Ste-Marie: 30 years of friendship!

It is said in Moustiers that a member of the Montelupo municipal council discovered Moustiers-Sainte-Marie by chance during a trip to Avignon. He was ‘dazzled’ and gave the first impetus to the friendly relations between the two towns.

A few months later, the town hall of Montelupo-Fiorentino contacted that of Moustiers-Ste-Marie. A delegation travelled to Tuscany shortly afterwards and the twinning took place in 1996 under the municipality of Fred Single.

Since then, there have been regular exchanges during ceramics and earthenware festivals, as well as school exchanges in the early 2000s.

A twinning committee was set up in Moustiers-Ste-Marie in 2001 and has successfully forged links between the two municipalities.

Alessio LONDI

Born in Florence, he has cultivated a deep passion for drawing since childhood.

As a teenager, this interest transformed into a true expressive language, a field of experimentation and personal research.

After earning a bachelor's degree in business economics and a master's degree in marketing from the University of Florence, complemented by a master's degree in communication and Made in Italy, he combined managerial skills with creative sensitivity.

Initially fascinated by Picasso's cubism and Dalí's surrealism, he developed a distinctive, spontaneous and instinctive style that blends figurative and timeless elements into an energetic and daring visual narrative. His works are born from an immediate gesture: lines and shapes intertwine to give life to human figures, animals and symbols that evoke the language of comics and contemporary pop culture.

Behind the apparent lightness of the lines lies a profound reflection on society, the present time and its metamorphoses. His images tell stories of everyday life and visions of future worlds, in a constant dialogue between irony and awareness.

His numerous trips to the Far East have left a lasting mark on his aesthetic. In his compositions, proportions are distorted and recomposed, giving life to visual constellations that balance lightness and emotional intensity. Signs become language, lines become narratives: each work is a map of emotions, experiences and reflections.

His pictorial research is expressed on multiple media: canvases, walls, ceramics, cars, terracotta pots, shoes, DJ helmets, mirrors and recycled materials, in a continuous dialogue between art, design and everyday life. Each surface becomes a testing ground for a universal visual language.

Over the years, he has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, as well as live painting performances in Italy and abroad. He has collaborated with international brands such as Ray-Ban and D.A.T.E, as well as music labels on global art projects, including recent commissions in Brazil and Indonesia.

His most recent experiences include a solo exhibition in Bolgheri, a collaboration with the car brand ‘Cupra’ and a large-scale pictorial intervention on the façade of the ‘Beppe Forti’ astronomical observatory in Tuscany.

In November 2025, he also created a live painting at Villa Miani (Rome) during the Smile Project charity evening in support of humanitarian projects in Eritrea.

The words of the exhibition curators, Maurizio GALANTE and Tal LANCMAN, about Alessio LONDI:

Alessio LONDI explores the sign, understood both as a calligraphic trace and as a personal and contemporary language. His ceramics are transformed into living surfaces, where the material dialogues with writing, creating a unique visual alphabet. The result is a balance between formal rigour and freedom of expression, where each work invites a double reading: on the one hand, the suggestion of modern calligraphy, and on the other, the emergence of a completely original visual code.

–>Sergio PILASTRI

Born in 1960, Sergio PILASTRI began his career as a ceramist at the age of 16. In 1980, he opened his own studio and made a name for himself in the art world as a ceramist.

His career has been marked by an innovative approach to ceramics, combining tradition and research. An important milestone was reached in 2000 when he participated, alongside sculptor Piero SBARLUZZI, in the restoration of the Vatican Gardens, coordinating the replacement of 200 panels from the historic Cantagalli factory. His work is distinguished by his attention to pictorial detail and in-depth research into the original colours.

In 2002, he created a baptistery for the church of Ginestra Fiorentina, while in 2014, he created three panels for the chapel of Carcheri (Florence), depicting the Nativity, the Deposition and the Resurrection of Christ.

Between 2016 and 2017, he collaborated with artists Lucio PERONE and Francesco SIMETI on the creation of works for the museum in Montelupo-Fiorentino. In 2019, he collaborated with international artist Moataz NASR on an exhibition at the Galleria Continua in San Gimignano.

His career has been enriched by important distinctions, including his selection as a finalist for the Midec Prize in 2021 and 2023.

In 2022, he reached a new milestone with MONSTERS, a revolutionary project born from his collaboration with world-renowned designers Maurizio GALANTE and Tal LANCMAN. Organised by Silvana ANNICHIARICO for the Fondazione Museo Montelupo, the exhibition received favourable international acclaim.

From 2023, MONSTERS will embark on a world tour, starting in February at the Galerie Lefebvre in Paris.

Sergio PILASTRI has established himself as a key figure in the contemporary art scene, continuing to explore and redefine the boundaries of ceramics through works of extraordinary intensity and innovation.

The words of the exhibition curators, Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman, about Sergio PILASTRI:

He is passionately devoted to studying the techniques and languages specific to medieval and Renaissance Italian ceramics. His works are a tribute to history, reinterpreted through a modern sensibility that values manual skill and the depth of ancient gestures. Each piece tells a fragment of the past, revisited with respect and creativity.

Introduction to Montelupo-Fiorentino:

A town of 13,000 inhabitants near Florence, on the banks of the Arno River, it is renowned worldwide for its ceramics production. The activity that has undoubtedly made this village's fortune found its ideal natural home here thanks to the presence of three fundamental elements: water, clay and wood to fuel the kilns.

Pottery has been made here since the castle was built in the Middle Ages, but the production of archaic majolica flourished in the mid-13th century. This marked the beginning of a period of great splendour for Montelupo. The favourite customers for these marvellous decorations were the noble Florentine families – the Medici, the Strozzi, the Frescobaldi – through whom the works then spread throughout Europe.

The typical decoration of the artisans of Montelupo can be divided into several ‘families’, which differ in their use of colour and pattern: the green family, the Gothic floral family, the zaffera family and the grotesques. In the 17th century, a new decoration called the harlequins, which popularised the characters of the Commedia dell'Arte, appeared.

Today, the production of earthenware, still very much alive in the area, can be admired at the Ceramics Museum or by visiting the shops in the town.

The International Ceramics Festival in June is a real celebration. All the workshops are open to visitors and a packed programme of events invites you to discover Montelupo and its traditions.

Organised by the Faience Museum