The exhibition, from June 5th to November 22nd at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti - Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti and at the Scuola Grande Confraternita di San Teodoro, is one of the most original collateral event of the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia.

Glasstress will feature both specially commissioned new work and selected pieces by forty-five modern and contemporary artists, many of whom are working with glass for the first time: César,Tony Cragg, Lucio Fontana, Dan Graham, Orlan, Joseph Kosuth, Man Ray, Jean Arp, Louise Bourgeois, and many others. The exhibition will explore each artist’s unique approach to working with the glass, the technical limits inherent in the material, and the synthesis between the artist’s ideas and the glass master’s skills. Glasstress is organized by Murano-based art impresario Adriano Berengo in collaboration with Laura Mattioli Rossi and Rosa Barovier Mentasti.

The exhibition is sponsored by The Mjellby Konstmuseum of Halmstad, Sweden in collaboration with Susan Scherman of Susan Scherman Fine Arts, San Francisco.

Glasstress represents Berengo’s dream of examining the expressive possibilities of glass by presenting a global survey and critical look at its use by modern and contemporary artists. The exhibition will showcase original and innovate work by artists, who traditionally work in other media, such as, Luciano Fabro, Louise Bourgeois, Joseph Kosuth, Kiki Smith, Fred Wilson and Tony Cragg. These artists were and are fascinated by the formal and conceptual possibilities of the material. In addition, there will be work by glass artists, such as Lino Tagliapietra, who have taken the forms and technical traditions of Murano glass production to new and exciting extremes. Dan Graham, who uses glass to create contemporary environments and installations, is also part of this important and historical presentation.

Glasstress is the link between the Venetian fine art glass movement of 1950s, Venice Projects and the 2009 Venice Biennale. As a young man, growing up in Venice, Berengo was aware that Peggy Guggenheim was fascinated by the artistic possibilities of glass – she felt that Venetian glass was too important to be used only for decorative purposes.

DEEPENING LINK: Complete Catalogue of "Glasstress"