Gaetano Pesce's Murano Glass Revolution at Museo del Vetro

The Museo del Vetro di Murano hosts a comprehensive exhibition of Gaetano Pesce's glass works, featuring around seventy pieces including vases, bowls, plates, sculptures, and installations. Curated by Gabriella Belli, the show highlights Pesce's innovative techniques developed at the C.I.R.V.A. in Marseille between 1988 and 1992, such as Mistral, Plage, Joliette, Vieux-Port, and Pastis. These methods use materials like silica sand, glass powder, glass beads, colored glass shards, and bottle fragments, often named after Marseille locations. Pesce, born in La Spezia in 1931, recalls his student days in Venice in the 1950s, where he discovered architecture and met figures like Alvar Aalto and Bruno Zevi. He dismisses Carlo Scarpa as an 'excellent artisan.' The exhibition includes his 'Sveronese' vases, produced by Venini, which subvert the traditional Veronese vase form, and his 'Deformazioni Veneziane' drawings that anthropomorphize Venetian landmarks. Pesce asserts that art has always had utility among its functions.