GLASSFEVER

From May 1 to September 20, 2016, art aficionados in Dordrecht will be able to visit Glassfever – Contemporary Art in Glass, a diffused exhibition project dedicated to Adriano Berengo’s vision.

Glassfever – Contemporary Art in Glass was the ideal continuation of The Secret of Murano that back in 1997 at the Hague – Het Paleis (the Queen’s Palace), made it evident how the skill of the Glass Masters, represented by the great Alfredo Barbini, Archimede Seguso, and Lino Tagliapietra, made available to contemporary artists new, exciting technical possibilities.

For Glassfever – Contemporary Art in Glass, Gerrit Willems, curator of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department at Dordrechts Museum, chose more than 80 pieces by 60 world-famous artists. All artworks had been made in Murano and had been, other than in Dordrechts Museum, in prestigious venues such as DordtYard, Huis Van Gijn, and Dordts Patriciërshuis.

Adriano Berengo’s “factory project” has been introducing the magic of glass to artists for more than 25 years, with a special consideration for those who worked with it for the first time and were more likely to contribute innovative curiosity and sensibility. Berengo Studio 1989 represents one of the most interesting agents in the world of international contemporary art, a cultural project whose success is proved by the fact that it involved, up to today, more than 300 artists from all over the globe.

Owing to this, Fondazione Berengo, by promoting an innovative model of “artist’s residence”, gave five international artists chosen by the Dutch institutions, Rossella Biscotti, Folkert de Jong, Zoro Feigl, Thomáš Libertíny and Giny Vos, the chance to experiment with the creative capabilities of Murano glass and make  new art.

Fondazione Berengo wanted and obtained the patronage of Consorzio Promovetro that, thanks to the contributions of around 50 businesses in Murano, has always been committed to the custody and promotion of this ancient art, today safeguarded and recognized in all the world with the brand “Vetro Artistico® Murano” given by the Veneto Region. Promovetro will cooperate with Glassfever with a choice of precious objects from the Venetian Renaissance to modern Home Living design.

In Dordrechts Museum, the keys to understanding the exhibition focused on an ideal comparison between contemporary and classical art, where the latter can be interpreted in light of the most recent innovation in glass art. Among the 35 artists nominated for this location there was: Luigi Benzoni, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tony Cragg, Tracey Emin, Jan Fabre, Marya Kazoun, ORLAN, Mimmo Paladino, Javier Pérez, Wael Shawky, Shan Shan Sheng, Lino Tagliapietra, Gavin Turk, Koen Vanmechelen, Fred Wilson, and Erwin Wurm.

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