Adriano Berengo’s Vision and Dream

Adriano Berengo’s journey is rooted in the great revolution of the 20th century, a time when figures such as Egidio Costantini and the collector Peggy Guggenheim foresaw that glass could become a medium for the greatest masters of modern art.

Adriano’s passion for glass struck him unexpectedly—a sudden revelation following a background that included studies at the Nautical Institute, work as a telegraph operator, a degree in Foreign Languages ​​and Literatures (followed by doctoral research in the United States), and a teaching position in Venice. It was only after a chance encounter outside the Hotel Danieli with a “battitore”—one of the touts who offered tourists exclusive tours—that he was introduced to a Murano glass furnace and fell in love with the art of glassmaking.

For many years, I felt no need to tell my story; I was too busy living it.

(Adriano Berengo, from the preface to the book Il contemporaneo in vetro. Berengo Studio, Murano e la Biennale di Venezia)

In 1989, he founded his studio with a clear mission: to liberate Murano glass from the confines of purely decorative craftsmanship and bring it into contemporary art galleries and museums worldwide—becoming the first to showcase glass at the Venice Biennale in 1997.

Since then, Berengo Studio has invited over 400 international artists to work alongside Murano’s master artisans—many of whom had never even touched glass before stepping into his furnace. Today, Adriano is one of the world’s most astute discoverers of emerging talent and a friend to the greatest contemporary artists on the planet.

The Furnace and GLASSTRESS: the beating heart of innovation

The nerve center of Berengo Studio’s production is a converted historic Murano furnace—also home to the Fondazione Berengo Art Space—where the age-old gestures of the maestro blend with the provocative ideas of contemporary artists.

It is here that GLASSTRESS takes shape: an ambitious project conceived by Adriano Berengo in 2009 that has become an official collateral event of the Venice Art Biennale, attracting creatives from every corner of the globe—and the subject of most of the photographs in this article.

The most spectacular collaborations: from Loris Gréaud to Ai Weiwei

Over the course of various editions and special projects curated by the studio, the furnace has given life to installations and exhibitions that have made art history.

Loris Gréaud (2017): for the 57th Venice Biennale, the French artist revived an ancient Murano furnace—which would later become the heart of the Berengo Art Space Foundation—transforming it into an immersive, dystopian installation titled *The Unplayed Notes Factory*, produced with the support of Berengo Studio.
Ai Weiwei for The St. Regis Venice (2022): an extraordinary exhibition curated for The St. Regis Hotel Venice, accompanied by exquisite blown-glass glassware sets designed by the Chinese artist, alongside the installation of the world’s largest chandelier, displayed in the Church of San Giorgio.

Tracey Emin (2013): one of the leading figures of the Young British Artists, she translated her intimate and provocative artistic vision into the delicate reflections of glass.
Erwin Wurm (2010): renowned for his ironic, distorted sculptures, he explored the plasticity and optical distortions of molten material with Berengo, culminating in the *Narrow House* installation situated along the Grand Canal.

Future projects: from the first contemporary art museum dedicated to glass to major exhibitions

Today, through the Berengo Foundation, Adriano brings his vision to the production of and consultancy for major exhibitions—such as those featuring Ai Weiwei at the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore or Koen Vanmechelen at the Uffizi.

Berengo has also spearheaded a significant technical revolution by founding the Berengo Casting Studio. This specialized facility brought the complex lost-wax casting technique—historically reserved for bronze art casting—to Venice and adapted it to the unique properties of solid glass, enabling artists to sculpt hyper-detailed faces, intricate geometries, and dense, monolithic forms with exceptional sculptural quality.

And arriving soon at the Murano headquarters is the first contemporary art museum dedicated entirely to glass—a project involving leading architects and designers that will, once again, inspire immense gratitude toward the young man who—by a twist of fate—was born in Castello, right across from what would become the Biennale Arte exhibition venues, and who never gave up in the face of a “no,” let alone a wall of glass.

If you would like to delve deeper into the incredible story of Berengo Studio, you can purchase the book published by Marsilio Arte Il contemporaneo in vetro. Berengo Studio, Murano e la Biennale di Venezia.

The Secret

At the back of the furnace, a sort of “gypsotheque”—a collection of casts and refractory molds used to shape iconic artworks—is preserved. Observing the outlines left by the casts and the metal of the molds reveals Berengo’s true secret: the master glassmakers’ ability to interpret—”in the dark” and at a single glance—the sketches created by international artists, even though those artists have never touched a blowpipe.

Useful Info

Berengo Studio
Fondamenta dei Vetrai 109
30141 Murano, Venezia
Tel. +39 041 739453

Fondazione Berengo Art Space Murano: free entrance