Art

Fabrizio Plessi, how to get lost 'in a glass'

In Murano, Fabrizio Plessi measured himself with glass for the first time, resulting in a unique collection of bottles and glasses as well as a monumental, hypnotic installation

by Silva Menetto

23 December 2025

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

After rivers of digital water, waterfalls of lava and flows of liquid gold, fire and wind, Fabrizio Plessi has finally landed in Murano to measure himself against another ancestral element that is well known to him through daily frequentation, but which he had never approached as an artist: glass.

At 85 years of age, the pioneer of video art has accepted this new challenge thrown at him by Barovier&Toso Arte, working side by side with master glassmakers, in the furnace, with fire and glass paste, to create something special. And glass gave him unexpected opportunities thanks to its dynamism, its plastic softness: Plessi discovered a living, turbulent element to which he could imprint the fluidity of water.

From white to deep blue

The result is a unique collection of forty glasses and thirty-six bottles, each one different from the other, shading from white to deep blue and bringing back the fluctuating movement of the liquid in the glass, creating small, totally original sculptures.

Works destined for collectors, of course, but in the meantime anyone can admire them until 21 June 2026 in Murano, exhibited at Palazzo Barovier&Toso in an exhibition with the paradoxical title: 'Losing oneself in a glass of water'. Because Plessi too wanted to lose himself, to immerse himself in glass and then find himself in this material that allowed him to start from the simplest forms of Murano glass production to imprint them with that magmatic turbulence that distinguishes him.

To complete the collection, a small perfume holder, again in glass, in the shape of a ring, with the same sinuosity as the other sculptures. And another ring, this time an enormous one, to close the exhibition route: between four historical Barovier&Toso chandeliers, Fabrizio Plessi has inserted a monumental installation, a gilded steel ring five and a half metres in diameter covered on the inside with special curved LED screens that send back images of the constant flowing of a stream of water. A 'magic' ring in which the river of life flows, a great wedding ring with which Plessi married contemporary art sixty years ago and to which he continually renews his loyalty. A magnetic, almost hypnotic installation that binds together the spectator, the ring, the continuous flow of water, the play of reflections on the walls. A meeting between the liquid element, which identifies Plessi, light, the fire of the Murano furnaces, glass, as a great metaphor for the fusion of inspiration and technique, contemporary art and tradition.

Fabrizio Plessi, Losing oneself in a Glass of Water, Venice, Palazzo Barovier&Toso, until 21 June 2026