GIOVANNI LEONARDO BASSAN
The Weight of a Gesture
Giovanni moves fluidly between worlds. Artist, painter, sculptor, Head of Furniture at Rick Owens, and co-founder of the wine project Katkoot, he approaches each discipline as part of the same creative language. “They are just my ways to express my language through different mediums,” he tells us from his Paris apartment.
It’s exactly this way of thinking that made our collaboration feel so natural from the beginning. When I first met Giovanni, I was immediately drawn to his curiosity and relentless drive to create. Whether discussing painting, furniture, wine, or objects, the same passion runs through everything he does.
It’s exactly this way of thinking that made our collaboration feel so natural from the beginning. When I first met Giovanni, I was immediately drawn to his curiosity and relentless drive to create. Whether discussing painting, furniture, wine, or objects, the same passion runs through everything he does.
For as long as he can remember, Giovanni has been drawing, sketching, and collecting objects. Growing up between the Dolomites and Venice, surrounded by generations of furniture makers and strong visual references from the Italian Renaissance, creation always felt instinctive rather than intentional.
It was when he moved to Paris fifteen years ago and got his first studio that he truly began experimenting and exploring.
“I was painting at night because I was working during the day. The basement had no windows, no natural light, and it felt like I was completely isolated from the outside world. I was so immersed that sometimes I wanted to pause for dinner, but then realized it would be 6am,” he laughs. “That was definitely the first time I truly dove deep into my practice as a painter.”
“I was painting at night because I was working during the day. The basement had no windows, no natural light, and it felt like I was completely isolated from the outside world. I was so immersed that sometimes I wanted to pause for dinner, but then realized it would be 6am,” he laughs. “That was definitely the first time I truly dove deep into my practice as a painter.”
Today, alongside his own artistic practice, Giovanni is Head of Furniture at Rick Owens, where he has spent years working closely with Rick Owens and Michèle Lamy. Their unwavering authenticity has left a lasting impression on him. “What I learned from Rick and Michèle is the authenticity of their voice, their expression, and their aesthetic across every aspect of life,” he says. “Especially Michèle; she has truly been a mentor to me.”
Our Q&A with Giovanni Leonardo Bassan
Our Q&A with Giovanni Leonardo Bassan
Every time we visit your studio, there seems to be a painting that has changed since the last time we saw it. How would you describe your process?
I define my work as a diary or reflection of my community and experiences. The way I work is almost sculptural within painting. I work a lot through layers, trying to reach abstraction through layers of figurative imagery.
I paint, I add layers, I add materials, and then I start removing. It’s almost a process of rediscovering gestures that were covered up, then erasing the work again.
What makes the process interesting is that the final result is never fully predetermined. Paintings can evolve over weeks or over years depending on where life takes me.
Honestly, if it were up to me, I would probably never stop reworking them. That’s one of the hardest things as an artist: knowing when to stop.
Honestly, if it were up to me, I would probably never stop reworking them. That’s one of the hardest things as an artist: knowing when to stop.
Hands seem to reappear throughout your work. What draws you to them?
I have always been fascinated by hands and the way they can hold deeper meaning. They carry religious power. And as much as I tried later in life to move away from the figurative, I always come back to the body, especially to hands. They hold a very special place for me.
Hands carry memory, intimacy, spirituality, and humanity all at once. They communicate emotion without words.
This became a starting point for the collaboration.
I wanted to create an object that captured gesture. There’s a lot of humanity in gesture, and I think people can relate to that.
The result is two sculptural lighter holders that are directly shaped from my hands. The process started physically and intuitively, through clay and moulds rather than digital sketches. After selecting the final forms, the pieces were 3D-scanned, capturing every line, imprint, and movement from the original gesture before being milled from solid brass blocks.
They feel both brutalist and intimate at the same time. In my home, I prefer having fewer objects, but objects with quality, weight, and presence. Raw and natural materials. Creating something beautiful and functional that I’d genuinely want around me was the goal.
What drew you to this collaboration with The TwentyFour Six?
What drew you to this collaboration with The TwentyFour Six?
From the beginning, there was a strong sense of community. The people involved and the creatives surrounding the project felt very inspiring. I also appreciated the authenticity of approaching sculptural objects not simply as products, but as narratives. There’s a sensitivity in the materials and storytelling that feels very close to my own practice.
As an artist, what advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell myself to slow down. Even when I was younger, I always had this urgency to show my work. But I think sometimes you really need time to explore and define your vision properly. Something shown too early can limit its potential outcome. So I’d say: take your time. Don’t rush. Go deeper into the research and concepts behind your art.
We always end the interview with the same question. What do you do on your ideal day off?
We always end the interview with the same question. What do you do on your ideal day off?
A day off is very rare for me because I’m very hyperactive. My practices in art, furniture, and wine are all passions, so I don’t necessarily see them as work.
I usually still paint on my days off. I love CrossFit and climbing with friends. But I also genuinely enjoy my intimate space: lighting candles, listening to music, and cooking at home.
