Glass Art

Following the dossier dedicated to contemporary ceramics in the issue no.13 of Revista ARTA, it became obvious, even necessary to us o propose a dossier dedicated to contemporary art glass in this double issue 16-17 of our magazine. Bearing a vertiginous process of emancipation from the strict domain of an applied, “decorative” occupation, art glass is heading nowadays in a spectacular manner towards major approaches, proving its conceptual and expressive capacities in such areas as the sculptural, the monumental, ambient, installation. Through its diverse techniques, more and more sophisticated – blown glass, modeled at warmth, glass produced through fusion and baking, optical crystal etc – today’s art glass is adding new experimental and scientific parameters to its traditional expressivity related to light, transparency, and unpredictability. Coordinated by art critic Aurelia Mocanu, the dossier we are proposing in this issue is offering a symptomatic radiography through the present-day state of this difficult and fragile art, by questioning well-known glass artists, from Romania and abroad, and by trying to take the pulse of the domain’s international state through a series of theoretical, more general texts.

The Venice Biennial 2015

The second dossier of this issue, aiming at reviewing the recently closed Venice Biennial of visual arts, is coordinated by art critic Daria Ghiu. The 56^th edition of Venice Biennale is discussed in our pages by curators, gallerists, and art commentators, from Romania and abroad, such as Mihai Pop, Edit Andras, Diana Ursan, Eleonora Farina, Gabor Andrasi a.o. The accent is set on the two Romanian participations in this edition: Darwin’s Room, by Adrian Ghenie, curator Mihai Pop, at the Romanian Pavilion – and Inventing the Truth. On Reality and Fiction, a group exhibition curated by Diana Marincu at the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice. This second exhibition showed young artists such as Michele Bressan, Carmen Dobre-Hametner, Alex Mirutziu, Lea Rasovszky, Ștefan Sava, and Larisa Sitar. The conclusion of the analyses and comments are encouraging: the existence of two „national” projects create the possibility of a dual presentation, which offers a expanded and more nuanced perspective on what contemporary Romanian art “which matters internationally” means.

Magda Cârneci, Editor-in-chief