VOLUME 6.4 | A publication of Material ConneXion – 2009
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Travel Material: From Venice to New York
By George M. Beylerian
Artists have a particularly
visceral approach to material experimentation. George Beylerian witnessed this first hand during his travels to the 53rd Venice Biennale earlier this year. He reports from Venice on the spectacular forms he discovered by two artists, GUALTI and Federica Marangoni, whose passion for materials drives their respective bodies of work in very different ways.
Travel Material: Notes from the Venice Art Biennale
By George M. Beylerian
GUALTI: Shoots of Light
In the heart of Dorsoduro is a white jewel box – hardly a 12′ x 12′ space, filled with the most delicate, attractive jewels of body ornaments. These jewels, however, are not made of gold or gemstones; they are actually made by the magical hands of GUALTI (Guatiero Salbergo) fashioned from nylon filament threads-resin acts as his “basic material”. The result is pure magic! The ornaments are collar wraps, from small to extravagant, collar and wristbands that flutter into graceful and butterfly shapes, pleated and delicate in vibrant colors. Resin acts as his ‘base’ with nylon filament threads which reflect his childhood memories of pulling out roots from the soil as artforms. He
creates “shoots of Light” as extension of the body. The sensibility in his fingers indicate childhood and adolescence work experience, when at 13, he started work in a laboratory of an artist/ ceramist in Capodimonte. At 18 he developed a passion for wearables, always manipulating shapes, curves and playing with “elasticity” as the extension of his craft. He explains that his work is not fashion, but art. His “expressive needs” are mirrored in his work through form and color. In other words GUALTI creates magic through his sense of color, shapes, curves, forms and the subtlety of it all! A true magician of shapes and colors!
