Venice, Italy is widely considered an international glassblowing hub and is significant to the history of glass art. A huge fraction of the most successful glass artists have some sort of connection to this region, its techniques, processes, and styles. Litvak Gallery presents exemplary works of Dale Chihuly, Yoichi Ohira, Davide Salvadore, and Lino Tagliapietra - all artists who have taken inspiration from Venice and the island of Murano. In 1968, world-renown American artist Dale Chihuly was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work at the Venini factory in Venice.. While in Venice, Chihuly observed the team approach to blowing glass, as well as gained inspiration from Venetian Art Deco glass. In 1988, Chihuly's distinguished Venetians series was born, as he collaborated with master glassblower Lino Tagliapietra. This exhibition of Chihuly Venetians highlights how this influential series grew within the last thirty years, displaying Cadmium Red Venetian with Black Lilies and the classic Golden Venetian, two pieces from the initial collaboration between Tagliapietra and Chihuly, as well as works from his black series, and recent silvered and gilded series. Each Venetian maintains a character of its own, while all remain ornate, elaborate, colorful, and radiant. Japanese born Yoichi Ohira has been living and working in Venice since 1973. His distinctive vessels are a blend of Japanese aesthetics and traditional Italian glass techniques. Ohira notes, "I would like to create work using my Japanese sensibility that is always a true reflection of the history of Venetian glass." Some of his works focus on the brilliant colors seen in Venetian glass, while others are classically simple, demonstrating the perfectly technical aspects of his body of work. Born to a family of glass artists, Davide Salvadore has been living in Venice his entire life. In his youth, Davide was an assistant at several prestigious glass houses, including Venini and Barovier & Toso, before joining his mother in the family business of designing and selling glass jewelry. In 1987, Salvadore founded his own studio on Murano, which he continues to operate today. Using equipment he designed and built himself, he creates passionately expressive one-of-a-kind sculptures that push the boundaries of centuries-old traditions. Lino Tagliapietra, as previously noted, is a master glassblower born on the Venetian island of Murano. During his long career as a professional glassmaker he had naturally studied the items on show in the Museo Vetrario in Murano, but foreign travel gave him the opportunity of expanding his knowledge of the history of glass. His encounter with US studio glass taught him to use traditional Venetian decoration techniques freely, without regard to convention. This is reflected in the silhouette and shapes of his works, with the titles frequently recalling those of post-war Muranese wares.
