Diretto Murano

In the second half of the 1980’s there arose in Murano the need, especially felt by the most talented master glassblowers, to be no longer mere producers of works in series but indeed creators, as well as executors, of unique pieces. Particularly telling in this sense is the story of Lino Tagliapietra, one of the most sensitive contemporary interpreters of the infinite expressive potential of blown and wheel-grinded glasswork. Dating from 1984 are the heavy blown glass pieces - executed at the premises of Effetre International, but not as part of the serial production of the factory - that testify to Tagliapietra’s consummate ability to create complex patterns, made of different filigrees, with a marked graphic quality. His subsequent contacts with glass artists of the rank of Andries Dirk Copier and the experiences shared with American artists such as Dale Chihuly and Dan Daily contributed to sharpen his sense of design and to his relinquishing many of the traditional schematisms that still play a major role in the daily activity of a furnace. His works are artist’s pieces whose only possible outlets are through galleries of contemporary glass and are therefore collectors’ items.
In the course of the past 20 years, the phenomenon of collecting has in fact accorded particular interest to glasswork produced at Murano, initially to that of the first half of the 20th century, then later to the work of the following decades and finally to the present time. Conversely, over the past few years many artists have increasingly come to identify glass as the material most suited to their works. In some cases they themselves take charge, totally or in part, of the execution; in other cases they provide a detailed design and closely follow the glass master in all the phases of execution.
One of the most assiduous frequenters of Murano over the last ten years has been the world famous artist Yoichi Ohira. After his early pieces in blown glass - bottles, vases and exquisite goblets - executed at the De Majo furnace, Ohira chose to follow the road of independence taking up the mosaic or “murrine” glass technique. This has allowed him to intervene directly on the composition of the tesserae and of the glass canes, subsequently blown by a skilled master. Ohira’s highly prized annual collections are nowadays contended for by European, American and Japanese galleries. With rare sensitivity he has succeeded in combining a specifically Muranese technique, albeit enriched by his particular inventions, with colours and forms drawn from the oriental tradition. The objects, of unparalleled harmony, are the result of his experimenting with all the possible applications of contrasting colour powders on opaque glass and with the fascinating effects, highlighted by masterly engraving, that the juxtaposition of clear and opaque can yield.
Maria Grazia Rosin’s early experiments with glass date back to 1992, when her pieces inspired by Pop Art were exhibited at the Bevilacqua La Masa gallery in Venice in the Sei artisti del Vetro (Six Glass Artists) exhibition. Her later works testify to the development of her strong and independent personality which through a combination of sensitivity, irony and contemplation of nature has given birth to such pieces as the chandeliers in the form of affable tentacled octopuses or the rather more mischievous goblets that use women’s body parts as constituent elements and are, befittingly, called Les grandes Dames.
More recently, granting full freedom to her imaginative vein, the artist has exhibited at the Correr Museum of Venice her collection of Venussiani, a series of fleshy and voracious flower-like objects which seem to draw from the world of sci-fi but that in fact stem from a masterly play of harmonies and an extremely accurate balance between colours and weights.
Also Cristiano Bianchin first approached glass in 1992. After a period spent experimenting with a variety of techniques applied to blown glasswork, Bianchin has in recent years turned his attention to primary forms drawn from nature, the Nests and the Seeds. Of considerable importance, in this particular context, are the effects of the cold work which the artist has studied in great depth for the dialectic play of light and shade, enhanced, on occasions, by reticular hemp slings the artist himself makes by hand.
Michele Burato concentrated, from his very beginnings, on glass mosaic. From his early works, carried out on an entirely amateur basis, almost as a game, using a small home-size oven to create gracious compositions with remarkable chromatic taste, he has since moved on to working with Bullsey glass. The wide range of colours and nuances of this material has been exploited by the artist to create patterns, at times of geometric schematism, for pieces made in plate, and sometimes assembled more freely into an apparently casual contesseration subsequently blown into forms of rigorous linearity. Like many other artists, as well as designing his pieces Burato is also directly involved in their execution, composing the patterns which will then be shaped by the skilled hands of the glass master, under the close supervision of the designer.
French-born, yet Muranese by choice, Isabelle Poilprez instead both designs and executes her own pieces. After working in the field of ceramics and graphic design in her country of origin, she deliberately selected Murano as the seat of her activity. Poilprez personally takes care of the execution of her pieces, being the only woman to practice an activity so physically demanding as to be traditionally reserved to men. Her creations are fresh, often tinged with a shade of affectionate irony and mostly inspired by nature. Thus light metal threads, shells, ceramic parts and dried flowers become harmonious complements to blown glass.
Having in the past experimented with murrine and canes, but with little continuity, Massimo Nordico has, in the last few years, dedicated all his attention to glass, creating collections which programmatically revolve around the study of different materials and specific techniques, often extremely complex in terms of execution, ranging from the “avventurina” in all its variations to “murrine” glass and to a kind of cameo glass composed of two layers of contrasting colour.
Laura de Santillana gained, through working with her father Ludovico at the management of the Venini glass house and subsequently working as the artistic director of Eos, such in depth knowledge of glass as to warrant her decision to work as an independent artist free of any kind of productive ties. Over the last decade, and as a result of a continuing process of development, she has produced an extremely personal body of work through a constant and dialectic dialogue with glass; rather than forcing the material into elaborate and complex forms, the artist has made a point of consciously fostering and enhancing its potential for transparency, light and colour, in all possible variations.
The activity of the many artists frequenting the furnaces of Murano and the ever evolving production of the glass makers account for the island’s remarkably interesting and varied scene, the more so when we consider that, alongside these young personalities, many others - constantly present on the island for many decades - continue to perform their creative work producing single pieces, either for collections or for themselves. A good example of this is the unwavering commitment of Toni Zuccheri, who, while being the designer of extraordinary glass pieces for Seguso Viro, holds steadfastly to his activity as an independent artist. Nature, observed with affectionate attention, has always been the source of inspiration for his work which re-proposes - with a deep sense of poetry - elements drawn from the animal and vegetal world and in which blown glass becomes a central constituent of his sculptural multi-material constructions of equal standing with bronze, copper, iron and brass.
The world of glass of Murano is certainly connoted by the presence of artistic personalities who, even if not on a regular basis, continue to mark, with their contributions, major steps forward in the development of this high level craft industry.
The last decade has witnessed the commitment of numerous artists and, alongside them, of many owners of furnaces that operate in an activity more than a thousand years old, for the future of which the attention being accorded it by young contemporary glass makers cannot but be auspicious.

Attilia Dorigato