Cathy's Art Diary

Luxurious exhibition at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice of glass designed by Viennese architects in the first half of the 20th century. These architects worked with manufacturers to produce these lovely objects. Even in the first case I fell in love with a cylindrical decanter by Adolf Loos. The show was presented against wall paper contemporary to the time. There was a lovely section on patriotic pieces made during the First World War and I liked a glass with the flags of Germany and Austria around it. Also a nice recreation of Hoffman’s glass room at the 1937 Paris exhibition called Boudoir D’une Grade Vedette, with panels of silvered wood. I fell for some lovely series such Patrician by Hoffman and Ambassador by Haerdtl which I believe are still made! Closes on 31 July 2016.

Interesting installation at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice by Lin Utzon. The work consisted of two large murals either ends of a large room of organic shapes, one with black painted on white and one with white on black. In the middle of the room was a large procession of black and white ceramic pots and in the corner was a pile of broken white post which looked as if the pots in the middle had come out of them. I saw it was being about migration however it was based on a quote by Albert Einstein “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.” It just shows that we can all take different things from a work of art. Either way it was beautiful! I love this growth in ceramics as an art form. Closes on 18 September 2016