VirusX Landscape

In the enchanting atmosphere of Palazzo Loredan, Caterina Tognon proudly presents the latest artworks from Maria Grazia Rosin: I Boreali 2016, created site-specifically for the Sala delle Collezioni. A pair of dark blue suspended luminous sculptures, inspired by phytomorphic organisms whose outstretched arms float lithely in the air, striving for contact with each other. The surface of the glass was subjected to interference processes to create a reflecting satin finish which combines with the work’s opaque, transparent or translucent variances to achieve a mysteriously disquieting effect. Hand blown at the Anfora Glassworks in Murano by Andrea Zilio, recipient of the 2013 Glass in Venice Prize awarded by the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.

Also on show with I Boreali will be a selection of works Rosin designed in Murano earlier in her career. Folpo (suspended luminous scuplture, series 2000/2008) –Clearly referencing the morphology of squid – “folpo” in the dialect of Venice – this work is a humorous, pop-art inspired revisitation of the traditional Murano chandelier. Ossessione Tentacolare (series 2004/2016) –Collection of tableware items, in glass and pottery, that play on the features of invertebrate species with their tentacles and suckers – a theme that has recurred in Venetian art through the centuries. Venussiani (series 1999) Glass orbs that voluptuously emanate from sensual floral forms, insatiable valves and macroscopic pistils that underscore their phytomorphic origins. Detergens (series 1992/2016) Sculpted containers crafted in colour glass paste, that playfully reference flacons of domestic cleaning products. Deprived of their mundane function, the sculptures are a Duchampian taunt that take the everyday into the exceptional. Gelatine LUX (series 2007/2010)  A selection of bio-luminescent alien creatures who belong to the imposing immersive Gelatine LUX installation created site-specifically for Rosin’s 2007 solo show at Palazzo Fortuny, Venice. Ice-ViruX (2009) – The Ice-ViruX are the product of the artist’s reflections on prehistoric viruses unearthed by boring into the furthest depths of the Arctic ice pack and reanimated in a laboratory. The artwork consists of a swarm of suspended elements that suggest a snowfall of ethereal off-white and silver ice crystal creatures. Virux Landscape (2014) – Virux Landscape narrates the findings of an astronautical voyage – in reverse: not into outer space but into the human body, to microscopically explore the essence of our cellular landscape

The artworks in the show were hand-crafted in Murano with the expert collaboration of Master Glass Blowers: Davide Fuin (Glass in Venice Prize, 2015), Gianni Seguso, Pino Signoretto (Glass in Venice Prize, 2012), Silvano Signoretto, Sergio Tiozzo and Andrea Zilio (Glass in Venice Prize, 2013).