An exhibition on Venini light fixtures
Le Stanze del Vetro, in Venice, on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, organizes an exhibition dedicated to light fixtures made by Venini in the period between 1921 and 1985. A significant part of the furnace’s glass production, in fact, is lighting, both for domestic use and for large public and private environments. ‘Venini: Light 1921-1985’, curated by Marino Barovier, presents a selection of 81 objects designed by the many designers who collaborated with the firm over the years, and by the in-house technical department. Among the key players in this journey are several artists, including Murano painter Vittorio Zecchin, with his re-elaboration of the chandelier with arms in the early 1920s; sculptor Napoleone Martinuzzi, with pulegoso glass artifacts from 1928-30. These were followed by architect Tomaso Buzzi and architect Carlo Scarpa, who worked with the glass factory until 1947. In the 1950s, the Murano furnace continued collaborating with renowned architects, including Gio Ponti, Franco Albini, Ignazio Gardella and the BBPR studio. In the same years, Paolo Venini also called young people from the School of Architecture in Venice to collaborate with the factory; among them was Massimo Vignelli, who designed a series of lamps inspired by Nordic design, revisited in a Murano key.
Discover the Black Belt collection by Peter Marino for Venini
Since the late 1950s, Venini has been developing modular elements, starting with the famous polyhedrons and continuing with drops, full rods, hollow rods with different sections, as well as cubes and plates. Venini made different fixtures with these modular elements, from suspensions to wall lamps, to large ceiling installations. On the occasion of the exhibition, ‘Venini: Light 1921-1985’, two special installations will be presented in the Carnelutti Room of the Giorgio Cini Foundation. One is the reconstruction of the Velario, the chandelier made in 1951 for the roof of Palazzo Grassi; ‘Homage to Carlo Scarpa’, on the other hand, will see the reconstruction of the monumental polychrome polyhedron chandelier, with about three thousand elements, designed by the architect in Turin on the occasion of ‘Italia 61’, in 1961.
The ‘Venini: Light 1921-1985’ exhibition, curated by Marino Barovier, is also part of The Italian Glass Weeks, an international event that Italy dedicates to artistic and industrial glass, which comes from the merger of Vision Milan Glass Week and The Venice Glass Week. The event is held in Milan from September 10 to 18, and in Venice from September 17 to 25. (Assia Karaguiozova) Lestanzedelvetro.org
Venini: Light 1921 – 1985
Exhibition curated by Marino Barovier
A projects by Fondazione Giorgio Cini onlus and Pentagram Stiftung
At Le Stanze del Vetro
Venice, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
September 18, 2022 to 8 January, 2023
