Guidi brings Art to the METS Trade in Amsterdam

Countdown for Guidi Srl, an undisputed brand in the sector of marine equipment, which is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary (1968-2018).

The preparations for the upcoming accomplishment already started at the Marine Equipment Trade Show in Amsterdam a few weeks ago, an event that the Italian company didn’t failed to join.

The preservation of values and tradition is a “diktat” for the Grignasco-based firm; yet, multiple, creative contaminations with art offer additional opportunities which never cease to amaze the audience and satisfy the authors. When we visited the stand of Guidi at the Mets Trade, a question occurred to us: Boat Show or Art Gallery?

A 60-square-metre exhibition area, designed – as usual – by Studio Anna Fileppo, where art and products dialogue incessantly within a context whose boundaries are so blurring that they are very difficult to be outlined.

The stand of Guidi Srl showed off a complete range of bronze, brass, chromed, nickel-plated and aluminium marine accessories along with anti-lock valves, water intakes and strainers, pipe fittings and much more, all 100% made in Italy.

Alongside these precious marine “masterpieces”, the company also exhibits a small preview of the photobook which will be published in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the firm. 17 shots by the talented American artist Jill Mathis embellished the walls of the stand and transformed it into a real, attractive “Art Gallery”. The photographer’s camera captured the products of the Guidi line at some among the most prestigious Italian boatyards which have chosen the Grignasco-based company as their supplier.

The feminine, delicate touch of the artist gives the marine products a poetic guise and that aesthetic-real value that it would be otherwise unperceivable on board a yacht. Jill Mathis is an habitué of Guidi Srl and her camera has been embracing the aesthetics of the factory job for several years, by ennobling it in a broader portrait of gears, bolts, iron, water, hand-shaped bronze, brass and aluminium. Under her magnifying glass, Jill inspects the reality of the factory from inside, with neither filter nor censure, by re-establishing an ancient pair: industry and art. Boasting deep, ancient roots, this relationship has almost always coincided with revolutions and crises of the ongoing economical systems.

Once again, Guidi celebrates a marriage between products and arts, a union which renews its vows from boat show to boat show, from country to country, by tracing a well-defined path towards a near, certain, stable future. The solidity of the group is confirmed by the sales trend of the Italian company, which, this year, has reported a +15% increase on both the Italian and foreign market compared with 2016.

Guidi is synonym with quality and, above all, innovation. Boasting an unparalleled team-building capacity, it is currently involved in the creation of a shared space at the next Versilia Yachting Rendez-Vous in Viareggio together with other authoritative Italian brands and leaders of the marine equipment sector, including Tecnoseal, Veco Spa and Mase Generators.

The founder of the group, Bruno Guidi, uses fine words to describe his satisfaction:

“I’m  very pleased that we’re so close to this important achievement. When I started my activity, I didn’t think that I could celebrate a 50th anniversary. The fact that my sons, Daniele an Alessandro, work with me now and in positions of responsibility is, in my opinion, a guarantee of continuity for everyone, including our employees, customers, suppliers and partners.

We therefore look at the next 50 years of Guidi with optimism, knowing that we can’t stop”. 

So, everything is ready for the 50th anniversary of the “Made in Guidi“, which looks at the future with trust, drawing on the art as a means to exceed the time limitats and outline the future.

Quoting Kandinskij “Art exceeds the limits in which time would like to constrict it”

Photo by Enrica Pastore