Gerda Gruber 'NODI - NIDI - NUDI Glass sculptures from Venice'
May 14th until June 21st, 2003
The versatility and fascination of designing in glass, together with the opportunity of availing of the consumate craftsmanship of the glassblowers of Murano prompted Gerda Gruber, already highly experimental artist, to begin working once more in the medium of glass for this project. Alongside her work in ceramics, she had already discovered the use of bronze and silver, together with the delightful fluid magic of glass, in the middle of the 1990’s. Numerous objects of glass were created 1998/99 which reveal very differentiated surface effects and are now on view in reputable museums like the Museo del Vidrio in Monterrey or the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.
From the beginning Berengo Fine Arts, one of the leading galleries for contemporary art in glass in Europe, was interested in close cooperation between its artists and the glassblowers in Murano. In the past few years many national and international artists were invited to the Murano glass studios to participate in a lively exchange: with the aid of the virtuoso artisans and their assistants artworks could be created that have already been shown internationally in public collections.
Christa Zetter introduced Gerda Gruber to Andriano Berengo and suggested a joint edition of the artist’s glass sculptures. Gerda Gruber saw the production of sculptures in coloured glass in Murano as a new challenge. The thought of realising her own ideas at a location so steeped in tradition, where skill and the knowledge of ancient techniques are married together as nowhere else, was especially attractive to the artist. The basic elements of the exhibition NODI-NIDI-NUDI evolved gradually from a series of ensuing designs. Gerda Gruber became acquainted with the exciting and creative production process in Murano near Venice in the autumn of 2001 and spring of 2002, where she studied the impressive composite form of the glowing, coloured glass, the race against time during the formation process and the not entirely predictable end product, which in turn became the starting point for new design variations. The fascination play of light, colour and form and the mutual interaction of these qualities is reflected in the delightful chararacter the resulting works.
Gerda Gruber is continually searching for new formal solutions, for metamorphoses, and at the same time she remains – if one views her oeuvre up to now – true to here own creative principles. “NODI”, the knot, is one such recurring element and a form fraught with symbolic meaning. The imaginary world of myths and legends handed down by ancient cultures (especially the Mayas) that deal with the belief and hope in the supernatural are stongly embedded in the Gerda Gruber’s creative process. The knot does not merely represent an unusual rounded spatial form for her, but also a suitable symbol for the sculptural interpretation of metamorphic creation. Apart from this, Gerda Gruber also uses the metaphor of the knot instead of heads in her figures. This artistic principle can be observed in the artist’s “Autoritratto” or self-portrait in glass.
Gerda Gruber lives and works in Yucátan, Mexico, a part of the world where natural powers can be felt more immediately. The artist draws here creativity from the wealth of nature surrounding her. One organic source of inspiration, the nest, gave rise to the “NIDI” or nests made of glass in Murano. The form of the nests was provided by nature and used as a basic form that was then modified and presented as a free body full of energy in space. The nest serves as an object to signify the living spaces of other creatures. The mounting of the individual nests, on the other hand, in cage-like iron structures refers indirectly to the increasing shrinkage of the habitats of other creatures in our present-day world. The almost hovering state of the glass objects and their strong luminosity, in both monocromatic and polychromatic form, evoke an ambivalent impression in the viewer.
The “NUDI” represent a further groups of works. The female body is often seen as an ideal object for the presentation of different forms of beauty. Gerda Gruber does not, however, devote herself to the female body in a traditional way, but adapts that body in wilful and striking manner: from the navel down and with the pubic area and the crossed legs emphasised, the ‘torsi’ are modelled in sensuous poses and in elegant flowing forms. The coloristic highlights and the soft transitions of tone underline each individually formed body. By melting together so-called ‘millefiori’ mosaic lamella with petal rosettes or star décor, further telling optical effects are introduced. NODI-NIDI-NUDI is a rich show of forms in glass, a sensuous artistic experience.
