Senses of Time: Panerai’s O’Clock—Time Design, Design Time Exhibition

Damien-Hirst Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting

While watchmakers use technical creativity to measure time, artists and designers recently sought to creatively interpret time at O’Clock—time design, design time, a Panerai-sponsored exhibition that runs through January 8, 2012, at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, Italy. At the exhibit’s opening on October 11, Panerai’s CEO Angelo Bonati spoke about the importance of design in watchmaking and one of the stars of the show, English artist Damien Hirst. “He has always been an avid collector of our watches,” said Bonati, who took credit for suggesting the use of Panerai dials as a medium. Hirst obliged with two spin paintings: the large Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting and a zoomlike version on the same theme, Beautiful Fractional Sunflower Panerai Painting. For both pieces, Hirst adhered dozens of varied Panerai dials without hands to the psychedelically painted canvases in a vibrant expression that conveys a sense of time flowing by.