Glasstress, 7th Edition

Fondazione Berengo Art Space, Murano, Venice (IT)
03 June - 27 November 2022

Glasstress 2022

The seventh edition of Glasstress, which opens on June 3 and runs until November 27, brings together a group of leading contemporary artists from Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa, and China in an ambitious exhibition that explores the infinite creative possibilities of glass. 

The group show is curated by Adriano Berengo and Koen Vanmechelen with the contribution of Ludovico Pratesi. "The core theme is fragility" Vanmechelen notes of this latest edition, "In our times, not only is the process of birth fragile, but in the challenging context in which we live, life itself has become fragile too."

The works are shown in the birthplace of glass, an ancient furnace, a landscape that reveals how fragile these times are, particularly for the human mind. Everything can be broken, yet all can be restored. Destruction also creates opportunity for reconstruction. Hence we must focus on a new generation. What comes out of the fire will be fragile and must be cherished.

Among the sculptures on display, we find a chair on which you can sit, or you can be hurt, a chandelier surrounded by bees who risk being the Icarusses of our times, burning their wings and crashing to earth, unseen and forgotten. The chandelier reveals the precious identity of humanity. The glass heads on display tell us that also our leaders are fragile, while the mind is our most powerful tool to imagine a new future. Therefore, we must protect, be mindful and be transparent. Only in transparency can one discover the new generation. Caught between birth and the locus of life, new constructions for a new generation can be born.

The artworks will be hosted inside the Fondazione Berengo Art Space in Murano, an old abandoned furnace that was transformed into an evocative exhibition space a few years ago.

Participating Artists Monira Al Qadiri, Maria Thereza Alves, Ayman Baalbaki, Vanessa Beecroft, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Judy Chicago, Tony Cragg, Jimmie Durham, Chiara Dynys, eL Seed, Endless, Leandro Erlich, Jan Fabre, Ryan Gander, Josepha Gasch-Muche, Kendell Geers, Marya Kazoun, Brigitte Kowanz, Karen LaMonte, Tomáš Libertíny, Massimo Lunardon, Federica Marangoni, Prune Nourry, Anne Peabody, Jaume Plensa, Alexander Evgenievich Ponomarev, Laure Prouvost, Laurent Reypens, Enrico Ruggeri, Thomas Schütte, Liam Scully, Sean Scully, Lino Tagliapietra, Tim Tate, Koen Vanmechelen, Paloma Varga Weisz, Robert Wilson, Erwin Wurm, Rose Wylie, Osman Yousefzada.

Exhibition Facts
Glasstress
State of Mind
3 June ➔  27 November 1022
Fondazione Berengo Art Space, Murano
Tue - Sun, 10am - 5pm

More information

Pictures © Francesco Allegretto