Italian-born siblings Alessandro Diaz and Laura de Santillana, photographed above, will visit Barry Friedman Ltd. Gallery this Friday to discuss their first collaborative efforts as an artistic team and the exhibit born from their desire to explore Hindu mythology through the medium of glass. Photo by Russell Johnson.
As SOFA New York is in full swing this coming weekend, sister and brother Laura and Alessandro Diaz de Santillana will make a joint presentation at the Barry Friedman Gallery for a dialogue about their upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma entitled “Scapes.” On Friday, April 15th, from 6 – 8 p.m. Barry Friedman Ltd. Gallery and the Museum of Glass Tacoma will host a conversation with the de Santillanas about the collaborative, traveling exhibit which opens this April at the Museum of Glass Tacoma. Scapes will showcase the work of the brother and sister team who worked together for the first time over the course of their artistic careers to create a colorful, conceptually complex exhibition focused on Hindu mythology.
Having grown up in a family dedicated to the tradition of Italian glassworking, Laura and Alessandro Diaz de Santillana spent their adult lives honing a craft that was carried on through multiple generations of glass makers in their family. The siblings were inspired at a young age by the work of their grandfather, Paolo Venini, and their father, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana, two men who shaped and carried on the Venini Glasswork Company. Despite their very distinct styles of glasswork the de Santillana siblings have a shared history success establishing themselves within the circle of exceptionally talented Italian glassworkers.
During her 2009 residency at the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Laura expressed interest in developing and idea for a collaborative show with her brother Alessandro Diaz. Although the two had spent the majority of their careers up to that point working successfully as independent artists, they decided to explore the act of working as a team to create an exhibition centered around their shared interests in Hindu cosmology. To create the work the de Santillana siblings proposed and participated in an extended residency at the Museum of Glass Tacoma that took place on and off throughout the winter and summer months of 2010.
Over two weeks time total the de Santillanas created the entire collection of pieces solely in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. The work from each artists reflects ancient Hindu beliefs about the visible world, interpreted through two very different forms of glass. The two artists produced work side-by-side during their time in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop that figuratively approaches the same concept but that is physically arranged in unique ways. The work of Alessandro Diaz is comprised of vibrant, framed paintings made from slumped glass cylinders that will be mounted on the walls. Laura’s work takes the form of free-standing sculptures that will be exhibited on the floor of each room, embodying the forms of mountains, celestial eggs, and stars.
The most significant elements of the show that draws the connection between the two artists very unique work is the concept behind the exhibition as well as the physical layout of the space where the show is being held. The exhibition will be shown in four separate rooms and the artwork in each space will represent four main components of the world as interpreted through Hindu cosmology: Earth, Space, Constellations, and Sun. The pieces exhibited by both artists will follow a distinct color palette based on the four components, from the dark Earth tones of black and deep red, to the bright use of copper and silver for Sun.
On Friday, April 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Barry Friedman Gallery the siblings will participate in a discussion about the exhibition hosted by Barry Friedman Ltd. Gallery and the Museum of Glass. To participate R.S.V.P. by contacting karen@barryfriedmanltd.com or rsvp@museumofglass.com.