George Sowden. Metropole watch for Memphis

GEORGE SOWDEN (Leeds, UK, 1942) for MEMPHIS Milano.
Floor clock "Metropole Memphis", design 1982.
Lacquered wood and covered with decorative laminate.
Measurements: 80 x 24 x 24 cm.

The Metropole floor clock, designed by George Sowden for Memphis Milano, embodies the disruptive aesthetic, between kitsch and elegance, typical of the Memphis movement. The neo-pop imprint in the choice of materials, colors and bold shapes is combined with an artistic assimilation of kitsch. Memphis was made up of a heterogeneous group of designers, from Ettore Sottsass Javier Mariscal to Peter Shire. They were officially presented at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1981, reaping great success with their controversial proposals.

George Sowden trained in architecture at Gloucestershire College of Art in the 1960s. In 1970 he moved to Milan, where he began working with Ettore Sottsass and Olivetti. In 1981 he participated in the founding of Memphis. Since 2007, he has been a partner in Industreal, an Italian company dedicated to promoting design ideas. In 2010, he founded the SOWDEN brand, which produces kitchenware and tableware. Sowden's interest in collaborating with artisans and small businesses, as well as in the practice of design and decoration, began in the 1970s and continues today. In 1990, his experimentation and research were the subject of the exhibition "George J. Sowden Designing 1970-1990", organized by the Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design in Bordeaux. In 1990, his experimental and research works participated in an exhibition organized by the Musées des Arts Décoratifs de Bordeaux and Marseille.