“Tapio Wirkkala at Venini” and “Toni Zuccheri at Venini” are two side-by-side exhibitions at LE STANZE DEL VETRO, curated by Marino Barovier and dedicated to two artists and designers who were active at the furnace in the 1960s. They both contributed, with their strong personalities, to the character of the production of the glassworks. In those transformational years, Venini was able on the one hand to present new models without giving up the use of colour, and on the other to respond to the new minimalist requirements in the world of design.

The first aspect was developed in particular by Toni Zuccheri, to whom we owe the extraordinary series of fowl and farmyard animals, which were soon joined by vases in bright colours with organic lines, inspired by the plant kingdom.

From 1966 the furnace also entered in a collaboration with Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala, who brought his experience with glass at the Iittala glassworks to Venice by combining Nordic culture with Murano craft, achieving remarkable results.

Toni Zuccheri at Venini catalogue

Tapio Wirkkala at Venini catalogue

The new exhibition 1912-1930 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale, curated by Marino Barovier, will be open to the public at LE STANZE DEL VETRO until 24 November 2024.

The exhibition is dedicated to the presence of Murano glass at the prestigious Venetian event, examining the period from 1912 to 1930 (from the 10th to the 17th edition of the Biennale) through a carefully chosen selection of 135 works, many of which very rare, from prestigious museums and private collections.

During this period, Murano glass gradually made its way into the Biennale spaces; first, through the artists choosing to use this extraordinary material for their works, then thanks to the opening of the Applied Arts event which was held in various rooms, together with the so-called Fine Arts, in the Palazzo dell’Esposizione until 1930. It was not until 1932, following the construction of a new pavilion, that glass and the applied arts had their own dedicated venue in the Giardini.

1912-1930 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale is accompanied by a catalogue curated by Marino Barovier and Carla Sonego, the result of careful bibliographic research and an in-depth documentary investigation in the Biennale Historical Archive.

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The exhibition Bohemian Glass: The Great Masters curated by Caterina Tognon and Sylva Petrová and organized in collaboration with the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, is dedicated to Bohemian glass after the Second World War, featuring the works by six major artists of contemporary glass sculpture: Václav Cigler, Vladimír Kopecký, Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, René Roubíček, Miluše Roubíčková.

Bohemia — the historical name for the largest of the lands that make up the present-day Czech Republic — was home to glassmaking innovators from the twelfth century onwards, who helped shape and augment the impact of European glass. Glassmakers based in this region were permanently pushed to invent new forms of glass production by competitive pressures from other European glassmaking centres, primarily in Germany and also in Italy, whose superb outputs dominated the global market in decorative glass.

This major historical connection between European glassmaking centres came to an abrupt end in 1948, when then-Czechoslovakia was overpowered by the Communist regime. Until 1989, the country’s borders were practically sealed off, denying free trade, travel, and communication with the western sphere, greatly impacting the local glass industry. Even so, the Communist regime presented itself abroad with the results of Czech glass-making efforts at large international exhibitions and world’s Expos.

Bohemian Glass: The Great Masters presents the works of leading figures in the Czech glassmaking scene who lived through turbulent societal upheavals because they had been born in the Czech lands in the 1920s and 1930s. These artists endured the largest-ever military conflict in Europe, followed by a brief respite of freedom and democracy, only to be plunged into totalitarian domination in 1948, which they could finally shed to return to standards of European democracy after 1989. It is remarkable that, despite all the negative effects caused by the absence of freedom and prosperity, they managed to overcome these challenges and grow their art in the broader context of the development of certain artistic disciplines in erstwhile Czechoslovakia. These were artists who initiated and nurtured a relatively “new” mode of glassmaking, “artistic glass” which was not intended for mass production. The works they created were unique, as in the case of traditional artistic disciplines such as sculpting or painting, while drawing on the specific characteristics of glass.

The show closes with photographs by Josef Sudek (Kolín 1896-1976 Prague) from the ‘Glass Labyrinths’ series, taken within the exhibition ‘Contemporary Bohemian Glass’ which was held in Prague in 1970 at the time of the 5th congress of the AIHV – the Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre.

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Opening dates: 18 September 2022 - 8 January 2023
Gigantic installations on view until 9 July 2023.

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FontanaArte. House of Glass, curated by Christian Larsen, is a retrospective exhibition that critically examines the legendary Milanese manufacturer of glass furnishings through the production periods of its four great artistic directors: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti.

From the time of its foundation by Gio Ponti in 1932 until 1996, when Aulenti left the company, the FontanaArte catalogue traced a historical stylistic arc through 20th century design, from the rational logic of modernism to the playful wit of post-modernism. Throughout, the company set the standards for Italian design: the seamless continuity between the classical ancient past and the technological present; the perfect marriage of art with industry, the superior quality of materials and hand craftsmanship, and the elevation of the everyday object into the art of living.

The exhibition is laid out with each gallery focusing on each designer and culminates in a suite furnished in the FontanaArte style to evoke a dwelling made of glass interiors. The exhibition layout is designed by architect Massimiliano Locatelli.

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It is still possible to visit the exhibition online with the 3D virtual tour and examine in detail, room after room, the extraordinary works on display thanks to the many insights, photographic and video contributions about the production of glass animals in Venice.

The over 750 works of art – representing, among others, elephants, hippos, cats, giraffes, bears, parrots, fish, turtles, foxes and tiny, lamp-worked life-sized insects –  belong to the personal collection that Pierre Rosenberg, art historian and former Director/President of the Louvre in Paris, put together over thirty years.

Alongside the Zebrati [zebra-striped] series by Barovier & Toso, the aquariums by Alfredo Barbini and the well-known examples by Seguso Vetri d’Arte, the exhibition also featured a vast sample of animals made by lesser-known but equally interesting glassworks from the point of view of the technical and design experimentation of 20th-century Murano glass production. The exhibition also showcased works by living artists such as Cristiano Bianchin, Isabelle Poilprez, Maria Grazia Rosin and Giorgio Vigna that demonstrate the inexhaustible source of inspiration that the glass animal has to offer.

The exhibition set-up was curated by Denise Carnini and Francesca Pedrotti, two stage designers who engaged in setting up a glass zoo. The exhibition also included an animated video by Giulia Savorani, visual artist and director who, starting from drawings on glass, has created a fairytale cartoon, based on an idea by Giordana Naccari for this occasion.

 

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"VENICE AND AMERICAN STUDIO GLASS" VIRTUAL TOUR - PART 1

"VENICE AND AMERICAN STUDIO GLASS" VIRTUAL TOUR - PART 2

Gathering 155 outstanding glass vessels, sculptures and installations created by 60 American and Venetian artists, this exhibition ‘Venice and American Studio Glass’, curated by Tina Oldknow and William Warmus, former curators of modern and contemporary glass at The Corning Museum of Glass in New York, is the first to closely examine the influences of traditional Venetian glass-working techniques, as well as the Venetian aesthetic, on American Studio Glass made from the 1960s to the present.

On show in the Carnelutti Hall of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini there is the monumental installation by Dale Chihuly, Laguna Murano Chandelier, created in 1996 on Murano with the Venetian masters Lino Tagliapietra and Pino Signoretto. The chandelier is made up of five components and incorporates sculptural elements evoking the Venetian lagoon.

‘Venice and American Studio Glass’ demonstrates the powerful, enduring and versatile legacy of Venetian glassmaking in America by exploring the impact of Venice on contemporary American art in glass.

List of artists:

Tina Aufiero, Philip Baldwin, Monica Guggisberg, Alfredo Barbini, Fulvio Bianconi, Martin Blank, Sonja Blomdahl, Nancy Callan, James Carpenter, Dale Chihuly, Deborah Czeresko, Dan Dailey, Laura Donefer, Jeff Mack, Fritz Dreisbach, Claire Falkenstein, Katherine Gray, William Gudenrath, Kim Harty, Richard Jolley, John Kiley, Beth Lipman, Marvin Lipofsky, Harvey K. Littleton, Flora C. Mace, Joey Kirkpatrick, Dante Marioni, Richard Marquis, Napoleone Martinuzzi, Josiah McElheny, James Mongrain, Benjamin P. Moore, William Morris, Andy Paiko, Marc Petrovic, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Kait Rhoads, Alexander Rosenberg, Richard Royal, Ginny Ruffner, Charles Savoie, Italo Scanga, Carlo Scarpa, David Schnuckel, Michael Schunke, Archimede Seguso, Pino Signoretto, Preston Singletary, Raven Skyriver, Thomas Stearns, Ethan Stern, Boyd Sugiki, Lino Tagliapietra, Mark Tobey, Norwood Viviano, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, Robert Willson, Fred Wilson, Mark Zirpel, Toots Zynsky

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‘Thomas Stearns at Venini’, curated by Marino Barovier, is the next LE STANZE DEL VETRO autumn exhibition open to the public on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, from 9 September 2019 to 5 January 2020.

The American artist worked at the Venini glassworks in the early 1960s and, following an initial period during which he became familiar with Murano techniques, he started to create some very original and unusual works in the context of local production.

So came into existence a small series of glass pieces, designed as sculptures, recognizable  because of their asymmetric and organic shapes and unusual glass techniques, rooted in the material of glass itself and with singular colour combinations.

For the 31^st Biennale in 1962 the Venini company exhibited, together with the glass pieces of Tobia Scarpa, also six pieces by the American artist, and these were rewarded with the accolades of the adjudication panel. His pieces, Il cappello del Doge, Facciate di Venezia, are well-known. The gold medal was in fact proposed for them; this, however, could only be awarded to an Italian artist.

The exhibition will also underline the interest that Stearns took in cold-finishing techniques and in lighting, enhancing both artistic expression and technical research.

 

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The spring exhibition at LE STANZE DEL VETRO, 'Maurice Marinot. The Glass, 1911-1934', the first international tribute to this great glass craftsman, will be open from 25 March to 28 July 2019.

The exhibition highlights the incredible originality of the French glassmaker-artist with more than 200 works and numerous preparatory drawings, from his first enamelled works to glass pieces personally blown and shaped with extraordinary skill and endless inventive capacity.

The exhibition 'Maurice Marinot. The Glass, 1911-1934' recounts the fundamental role of Marinot in the history of modern and contemporary glass, yet to be thoroughly acknowledged by the public.

LE STANZE DEL VETRO is both a cultural project and an exhibition space on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore and it is dedicated to the study and the exhibition of modern and contemporary forms of the glass art.

Two exhibitions are staged each year: one in the spring, dedicated to the use of glass in 20th and 21st century Art and Design, and the second in the autumn, dedicated to the talented people who designed objects for the Venini glassware company in the 20th century.

Free entrance to LE STANZE DEL VETRO and guided tours, educational workshops and special events for families are scheduled for each exhibition.

 

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Qwalala is the second temporary installation (after the Glass Tea House Mondrian by Hiroshi Sugimoto) to be commissioned by LE STANZE DEL VETRO.

The work by American artist Pae White, exhibited in the gardens outside LE STANZE DEL VETRO, consists of a curved wall 65 metres long and 2.4 metres high, made from thousands of glass bricks crafted by hand in the Veneto Region.

The title of the installation, Qwalala, is a term coined by the Native American Pomo tribe and refers to the snaking course of the Gualala river in northern California, which the work is intended to recall, both in its structure and its layout.

About half of the bricks are in transparent glass, while the others are a whirl of twenty-six different colours: from a distance these bricks create an abstract, pictorial motif, while closer up they reveal a myriad of detail. The layout and the colour combination were chosen by the artist from the thousands of random possibilities generated by a computer using software produced especially for the project.

Apparently simple in form, the wall explores the limits of glass as a construction material and documents Pae White’s interest in combining common materials and technologies, traditional craft and advanced engineering, and in using the manufacturing industry to challenge the limits of each of these. The result may be interpreted as sculpture that evokes architecture and, vice versa, architecture that evokes sculpture.

The project is accompanied by a book published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Koenig.