Enzo Mari & Norman Ives — ICI ‘Reflections’ Foil Works, 1971 — Pair

Two original foil-stamped works from Reflections, an ambitious 1971 project commissioned by the Plastics Division of ICI to explore the creative possibilities of contemporary stamping foils.

Seven internationally significant artists and designers — Enzo Mari, Norman Ives, Dieter Roth, Armin Hofmann, Alan Fletcher, Pieter Brattinga and Jean-Michel Folon — were each invited to respond visually to Reflections, a poem by Poet Laureate C. Day Lewis.

The works employed reflective stamping foils based on ICI Milinex polyester film, transforming an industrial material into an integral part of each composition. Overall design of the project was by the influential London partnership Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes, which became part of Pentagram in 1972. The result represents a rare convergence of industrial innovation, poetry and international modernist graphic design.

These two works provide markedly different responses to the same brief: Mari uses repeated overlapping lines to create shifting geometric structures, while Ives employs a disciplined grid of interlocking architectural forms. Their reflective surfaces change subtly according to ambient light.

Professionally reframed as a pair in bespoke black wooden frames with black window mounts and anti-reflective glazing.

Designers: Enzo Mari (1932–2020) & Norman Ives (1923–1978)
Series: Reflections
Commission: ICI Plastics Division
Date: 1971
Medium: Foil-stamped graphic works using ICI Milinex polyester film
Overall Design: Crosby/Fletcher/Forbes
Presentation: Bespoke frames with anti-reflective glazing
Condition: Mari presents well; Ives displays age-related deterioration and spotting to areas of the metallic foil surface
Offered: As a pair