The virtues of fragility

Adriano Berengo and Koen Vanmechelen present Glasstress 7 at Murano
by Redazione VeNews
Stimulated to search for new languages, the artists involved first experimented and then chose glass as an absolutely unique medium, breaking down the fences of tradition.

In an era like the one we are going through, fragility is increasingly present in our lives, however we often tend to hide it, to be ashamed of it. Yet fragility is itself part of our existence, it helps us to understand who we are, it is a virtue from which to start over, to start over, repair and rebuild. From this concept was born the seventh edition of Glasstress 2022 – State of mind, the exhibition curated by Adriano Berengo and Koen Vanmechelen, hosted by the Berengo Art Space Foundation in Murano, from 3 June to 27 November. Stimulated to search for new languages, the artists involved first experimented and then chose glass as a unique medium in terms of characteristics and yield, breaking down the fences of tradition.

Guardian and promoter, certainly visionary but concrete, Adriano Berengo with his Foundation through Glasstress has been creating new connections between contemporary artists and glass masters for years, demonstrating how the unlimited creative abilities of an ancient but hyper- contemporary material such as glass continue to travel new unexplored paths, renewing and revitalizing itself incessantly. Glasstress 7 is a very composite and extremely fascinating exhibition, in terms of content and attendance – more than 40 artists – with some expected returns who have already collaborated with Berengo Studio and exhibited in previous editions, such as Jan Fabre, Jimmie Durham, Laure Prouvost, Tony Cragg and Monira Al Qadiri, among the artists selected by Cecilia Alemani for her The Milk of Dreams exhibition.

Ph. Monira Al Qadiri, Benzene 3, 2022 – Photo credit Francesco Allegretto. Courtesy of the artist and Berengo Studio