AMeBE invites you to journey beyond the boundaries of convention, where the mystical meets the obscene, and art becomes a conduit for exploration, revelation, and transformation.
Together since 2005, AMeBE is an Italian duo based in Milan, composed by Alessandra Mantovani and Eleonora Barbareschi.
AMeBE’s satirical and conceptual works are informed by their unique Fine Arts and Design Technology backgrounds, integrating cutting edge technologies with refined handcraft skills. The duo’s “forte” lies within their unique approach, which gives AMeBE the chance to create with a blend of artistic craftsmanship, resulting in a continuous aesthetic inventiveness characterized by an exclusive signature.
Their name, in addition to being the acronym of the founders initials (A+M & B+E), is inspired by the ‘amoeba’, the fascinating organism characterized by its continuous evolutions. The term Ameba, or rather Amoeba, is derived from Ancient Greek and means ‘change, transformation’.
Their work’s attitude recalls their nature. Indeed, the two artists are anything but amorphous, rather their work assumes the versatility of an amoeba: dynamically mutable and perpetually transforming.
AMeBE define themselves as complementary and indispensable. As the bomb and the fuse, they give their best together, stimulated and fed by an endless intellectual tension that sparks from the antipodes of their individual being. Their creativity straddles and balances between folly and rationality, rigor and disorder, intellect and heart, sacred and profane making their “marriage” fun and inexhaustible, constantly giving birth to unique creations. While bringing together innovative production techniques and high quality materials, AMeBE’s work feeds on Italy’s heritage, diversity and complexity, but it’s their positive and ironic outlook on life that defines their creative work while questioning the status quo.
The Duo first made their mark with the product ‘Finger-Dip,’ which was Awarded with the Red Dot Product Design Award in 2010 in Essen, Germany. Influenced by the location of their first studio, in the heart of the industrial Design district of Italy, AMeBE’s focus eventually shifted to the field of Furniture Design, through which they refined their characteristic of a neo-classical aesthetic, represented by the collectible pieces ‘I Love Italy’, part of the Cultural Heritage Design Collection started in 2018.
Their artistic research brought them to seamlessly weave Art and Design, as exemplified by the unique contemporary sculptures ‘Wind Force 12’ commissioned by MCFAF for SILVERSEA – Luxury Cruise Ships to the ‘Cupolone’ suspension lamp, a Pop reproduction of Saint Peter’s Dome for SELETTI.
AMeBE’s collaborations have been numerous, from being head of GAETANO PESCE’s workshop for the realization of a selection of pieces for Design Miami (NYC 2011), to the most recent intervention for his ‘Come stai?’ installation for BOTTEGA VENETA, to the Site-specific installation ‘Seek to Believe’ for BIENNALE ARTE (Namibian Pavilion, Venice, 2022). Many are also their consultancy and Creative Directions as for the perfume brand PARCO1923, the Chinese furniture factory ADWIN FURNISHING or AGE GRACEFULLY, which brought their creativity all the way to China and Singapore since 2012. Among other ongoing projects, AMeBE have been designing for Italian firms such as: SELETTI, RIVA 1920, SITAP, MODO, BITOSSI.
AMeBE also entered the Collector’s market by producing the collectible chandelier entitled ‘Cupola’. The piece was recognized by the Arte Laguna Prize in Venice in 2019 and later represented by DAVID GILL GALLERY as a Limited-Edition series at prestigious fairs such as Masterpiece London and The Salon Art+Design at the Park Armory in New York City.
Their expertise in Fine Arts and Design is also expressed through the didactic contributions, talks and speeches for Domus Academy at the “Master in Business Design”, the Shanghai Normal University (Shanghai, CHINA) or the most recent participation as jurors of the TISDC – International Student Design Competition in Taiwan.
AMeBE’s versatile and innovative approach has been supported by other numerous International Awards such as the Red Dot Concept Design Award in Singapore, or the GAI – Movin-Up Award for Young Italian Artists abroad.
Among their most recent Awards and Exhibits: the group exhibition ‘Eccentrici e Solitari’, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi in 2022 at Museo di Palazzo Doebbing; the Pop Oil-dispenser ‘EXTRA VERGINE’ presented as a tribute to Mediterranean culture, DNA Design Award 2021 winner and available with BITOSSI Home since 2023; the participation at NYCxDESIGN 2023 Festival in New York City.
