le stanze del vetro presents ettore sottsass' glass exhibition in venice

on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of italian architect ettore sottsass (1917 – 2007), ‘le stanze del vetro‘ exhibition celebrates his glass and crystal production. with 200 works on display – mostly from the ernest mourmans collection – many of them will be showcased for the first time. curated by luca massimo barbero — director of the institute of art history of fondazione giorgiocini — the show will be held at the island of san giorgio maggiore in venice from the 10th of april to the 30th of july 2017 and it will be complemented by a catalog raisonné, published by skira.

‘sottsass’s glass pieces are complex organisms, designed as if they were characters’ says luca massimo barbero, the curator of the exhibition. ‘the artist-architect breaks through the technical boundaries of the objects using materials such as glass, plastic and polycarbonates and brings them to life. they are beings made of many elements that create a lively yet imaginary world. ‘ettore sottsass: the glass’ is an exhibition that brings murano glass into the present with a vitality that projects it into the future.’
(above) ettore sottsass | kachina 10, 2009-11 | vetro soffiato e corian® | image © jean bernard
(main image) ettore sottsass | kachina 16, 2009-11 | cirva | image © jean bernard
ettore sottsass | kachina 05, 2009-11 | cirva | image © jean bernard

ettore sottsass | allodola, 2003 | vetreria etrusca | image © riccardo bianchi

ettore sottsass | upupa, 2003 | vetreria etrusca | image © riccardo bianchi

ettore sottsass | portrait © bruno gecchelin