Italian designer Luca Nichetto presents ‘Empathic – Discovering a Glass Legacy’ at Venice’s Punta Conterie gallery (until 10 April 2022), showcasing the work of eight designers experimenting with Murano glass through colour, form and different techniques.
Luca Nichetto and Murano glass
‘Mecha’ by Luca Nichetto, one of three colourful glass robots evoking the designer’s childhood icons
‘Murano glass is my favourite material, and a key to understanding my design approach,’ says Nichetto, originally from nearby Venice. ‘From the tools most commonly used in traditional Murano glass craftsmanship, to exploring new techniques, many of my designs are inspired by glassmaking in Murano. I am lucky enough to have access to this universe since my early childhood, and today I incorporate Murano glass into more than half of my projects.’
Nichetto asked Ini Archibong, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, GamFratesi, Benjamin Hubert, Richard Hutten, Elena Salmistraro and Marc Thorpe to each create a piece or small collection experimenting with glassmaking techniques, including blown glass, glass rods and cast glass, and letting memories and emotions guide their work. Each piece was brought to life by the skilled craftspeople of Murano, combining creativity and artisanal excellence.
Eight variations on glass design
‘Down by the water’ by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance
The designers’ interpretations are as varied and diverse as their backgrounds and signature aesthetics, from the colourful compositions by Benjamin Hubert and Richard Hutten to the craft-oriented vessels by GamFratesi, merging organic glass shapes with palafitte-like wooden bases inspired by the city of Venice.
Ini Archibong’s piece recreated traditional African wooden masks (what he calls ‘four empathic and protective spirits that a person can encompass to navigate the earthly realm’) with intricate glasswork: ‘Knowing that there is a historic precedent of Muranese-African cultural exchange, it entertains the prospect of a continued dialogue between the cultures through craft and spirituality,’ he says.
RELATED STORY
Nichetto’s own contribution to the project featured armoured figurines from his childhood, while Elena Salmistraro’s mirror is flanked by reproductions of Gorgons’ serpents. Marc Thorpe recreated the colours of the lagoon in his striped vases, and the theme of water is also evident in Noe Duchafour-Lawrance’s pieces, small tables evoking the effect of water’s surface in impossibly neat detail.
‘Palafit’ by GamFratesi. The designers looked at the Venice lagoon and the city’s foundations, creating a small landscape composed of different forms in large blown glass lying on wooden sections obtained from bricole, the traditional poles that mark the waterways across the lagoon
‘As a designer, I have wanted to work with Murano’s artisans since visiting the island when I was younger, and I believe it’s important to support craft industries to ensure they don’t disappear,’ comments Hubert. ‘This project is about working with the local makers and helping to protect their irreplaceable expertise, as well as a desire to create an expression of the process that showcases the inherent qualities of glass as a material.’
Adds Thorpe: ‘We could consider this exhibition a tribute to the history, art and craft of Murano. However, this exhibition is actually a love song from Luca to Murano. The works sing, carrying with them an individual resonance of unbridled passion for the spirit of Murano, conducted as a sonate by Luca Nichetto. It is an honour to participate in this passion.’
‘Medusa’, by Elena Salmistraro, inspired by the sinuous movement of the Gorgons’ serpents. ‘The mirror then becomes the subject, and as in fairy tales, it enchants, exalts, paralyses,’ she says. ‘Just like Medusa’s gaze, which becomes the narrative device, to give voice to the sinuous flexibility of blown glass.’
‘Layered’ by Richard Hutten, a vertical totem featuring multicoloured glass
‘The Family’ by Marc Thorpe is inspired by the colours of the Venetian lagoon
Ini Archibong’s ‘Africa’, the designer explains, represents ‘the four empathic and protective spirits that a person can encompass to navigate the earthly realm: The General (strategic), The Seer (clairvoyant), The Elder (knowledgeable), and The Beast (instinctive)’. The piece, he continues, ‘is part of my continuing dialogue surrounding the creation of a new mythology for the children of the African diaspora..
‘I created a constraint to the glass using a vertical metal panel,’ says Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance. ‘This element of disruption forced the glass to change its state, from a flat surface to an undulated one. But the glass finally stays as calm as the water of the Venetian lagoon.’
INFORMATION
‘Empathic – Discovering a Glass Legacy’ is on view at Venice’s Punta Conterie gallery until 10 April 2022
puntaconterie.com
ADDRESS
Fondamenta Marco Giustinian, 1
30141 Venezia
Italy
-
Wallpaper* checks in at the refreshed W Hollywood: ‘more polish and less party’The W Hollywood introduces a top-to-bottom reimagining by the Rockwell Group, capturing the genuine warmth and spirit of Southern California
-
Book a table at Row on 5 in London for the dinner party of dreamsRow on 5, the first restaurant ever to open on Savile Row, emerges as a perfectly tailored fit for fans of fan dining
-
How a bijou jewellery salon in Monaco set the jewellery trends for 2025Inside the inaugural edition of Joya, where jewellery is celebrated as miniature works of art
-
‘You don't want space; you want to fill it’: Milan exhibitionMaking its debut during Milan Design Week 2022 at Marsèll Paradise, a new exhibition by Matylda Krzykowski, explores how we approach the space we live in (until 15 July 2022)
-
Kohler and Daniel Arsham brought experiential art to Milan Design WeekLooking back on Daniel Arsham and Kohler’s Divided Layers installation, and the brand’s latest bathroom collection
-
Men’s mental health takes centre stage at an art and design exhibition by Tableau‘Confessions’, which travels to Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design following its debut at Milan Design Week 2022, features commissioned work by 14 male artists, designers and architects, reflecting on toxic masculinity, vulnerability and mental health
-
Recycled glass tiles by Studio Plastique, Snøhetta and Fornace Brioni launch in MilanThe ‘Forite’ tile collection, which upcycles glass components from discarded fridges, ovens and microwaves, launches with an exhibition at Alcova during Milan Design Week 2022
-
Hermès’ annual Milan Design Week spectacle is inspired by brutalist water towersBringing colour and lightness to Fuorisalone 2022, Hermès’ installation at La Pelota conceals the maison’s latest collections of furniture, accessories and lighting
-
Alcova: wellbeing, cultural identity and the environment in focus at Milan Design Week 2022In its fourth edition during Milan Design Week 2022, Alcova brings together a diverse group of designers and brands curated by Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima
-
New Giorgetti furniture balances beauty and functionalityNew Giorgetti furniture, revealed at Salone del Mobile 2022 and photographed here at the rationalist Castrocaro Terme, is perfectly poised between beauty and functionality
-
Philippe Starck reinterprets Dior’s Louis XVI Medallion chair in MilanDior has commissioned Philippe Starck to put a contemporary twist on a classic piece of seating for Milan Design Week 2022, complete with an immersive installation at Palazzo Citterio
