Lino Tagliapietra the Glass Maestro

Lino Tagliapietra is a legend in the world of 'studio glass' Art. He became a Maestro at the age of 21 a title for only the masters of glass blowing and sculpting in Murano, he has worked, taught, inspired and innovated the traditional Venetian techniques for over seventy- five years. And still he is exploring. 

The first exhibition in many years in his home country was curated by John with the Milan gallery The Pool NYC , titled 'Un Viaggio con Lino Tagliapietra' ... A Voyage with Lino Tagliapietra, it was a small selection from the archives of Lino's portfolio. The introduction is a series of Endeavour, that are glass hulls, suspended from the ceiling, they could be gondola, or any elegant boat, the name comes from the classic J Class Series sailing yachts from the 1930s. 

Dinosaur, huge technically difficult and signature pieces inspired by the pre historic reptiles that inhabited the Venice lagoon, long before man. Lino, who travelled widely took influences from the places he visited and inserted the essence into many of his masterpieces. Madras, an incredibly complex pattern of woven canes that becomes glass fabric. Kookaburra, inspired by colours of Australia. Osaka and Fuji from his numerous visits to Japan, the lava of the volcano, the colours of the orient. Piccadilly, the chaos of the centre of London, transposed into a finely balanced form. The installation of Masai, from the shields of the tribe in Kenya,  blown vessels, cut and then fused with gold leaf. The Borneo installation is a testiment to Lino's mastery of the use of glass canes, a spiral of coloured and transparent canes blown into a vessel, which is then overlain with an exposed cane, spiralling in the opposite direction, an incredibly complex technique. 

The exhibition was extended as proved so popular to the Milanese who had not been aware of this extraordinary artist. The intention is to bring to London to show to a new audience.