Draga & Aurel, Milano Design Week
Milan, Italy
April 06, 2025

Transparency, layering, chromatic mutations: these are the “Reflected Thoughts” of Draga & Aurel, the exhibition installation the creative pair is presenting at the Rossana Orlandi Gallery for this year’s edition of Milan Design Week. The space will become theatrical, turning into a stage for intersecting stories and visual monologues that form an expressive symphony marked by interaction and reflection between materials, transparency, and color.

The curtain rises on the new artistic upcycling project Rescue Me. Spotlights illuminate the Cadre Lucite sideboard, and the scene comes to life with the Phebe lamps – satellites of light and color. The objects appear to throb with energy, conveying the viewer to a dimension suspended between dreams and astonishment. The paintings by Aurel K. Basedow represent the pictorial extension of a distinct yet synergic course of research. Rhythm and technique merge with instinct while multiple layers of resin create flowing depths and incorporate fabric textures, photographs, and pictorial markings. The initial image is rewritten with each pour, becoming an abyss of transparency and reflections in which to lose one’s gaze. “To us, painting and design are two inextricably linked worlds. Each mirrors the other in a continuous game of referencing, reflections, and narratives.” – Draga & Aurel Reflected Thoughts is an invitation to delve into color and light, to get lost in transparency and details, and to discover the language hidden in layering.

The new furnishing items presented in Reflected Thoughts are: The Rescue Me Series– Heritage Collection. In a circular creation process in which nothing is lost, the artists work with furniture components formerly discarded by the Heritage collection, enabling them to acquire a new meaning. Each Rescue Me item is enhanced by a meticulous process of metamorphosis. In its range of colors, the resin magnifies the effect of depth and transforms the surfaces into textured paintings. Vibrant, bold fluorescent accents break the nostalgia and launch each piece into a contemporary dimension. The transparent Lucite frames suspend the volumes, giving them a new visual lightness.

Cadre Sideboard – Transparency Matters Collection:
Inspired by the artistic research carried out by Bettina Bürkle, Draga & Aurel have designed a dynamic work that explores the relationship between matter, light, and color. The meticulous transparent Lucite structure, embellished with shades of green, creates surprising reflections and shimmering depths. Draga & Aurel’s artistic experimentation emerges in the doors that slide on multiple levels: colored surfaces that overlap, producing ever different visual configurations. A simple gesture – sliding the panels – turns the entire sideboard into a new, shape-shifting, dynamic object.

Phebe Lamps – Transparency Matters Collection:
The name of the Phebe lamps comes from the Greek word meaning “bright and luminous”, evoking an ethereal and magnetic presence that spreads through the space with a playful colored glow and surprising transparency. They consist of two disks; the upper disk, made of Lucite, is thin and bright, while the lower disk, which comes in different hues, is made of epoxy resin, is significantly thicker, and contains the light source.

Established in 2007 by Draga Obradovic and Aurel K. Basedow, Draga & Aurel is a multidisciplinary studio and workshop for art, collectible design, and furnishing items. Armed with a diversified background in art, fashion, and craftsmanship, Draga & Aurel are widely known for combining original methods with an artistic approach to materials and composition. Pioneers in upcycling in the design sector, they began their journey by reinventing vintage furniture and objects in their style and shaping the first Deshabillé and Heritage collections. Their 2009 debut at Milan Design Week marked the beginning of significant partnerships with furniture companies, firstly Baxter and Wall&Deco, followed by new ones throughout the years, including Visionnaire and Gallotti&Radice, and more recently Poltrona Frau and Giorgetti. In 2019, the couple staggered the crowds at Milan Design Week with a new personal project: the Transparency Matters collection, which explores the use and the possibilities of transparency, always related to lights and colors phenomena. From its launch, the studio has continued to develop the collection, gaining more popularity. Between art and design, Transparency Matters collectible design pieces find the perfect display in the most prestigious galleries, such as Rossana Orlandi Gallery, Nilufar Gallery and Todd Merrill Studio. Moreover, they often participate in art and design fairs. Their design production stands alongside the artistic output of Aurel K. Basedow, comprising powerful, evocative, and poetic works. At Draga & Aurel, art and design follow two parallel and complementary paths, in a continuous exchange that strengthens and sometimes inverts their meanings.

more. www.draga-aurel.com