It was established in 1989 by Adriano Berengo, a Venetian entrepreneur whose goal was to renovate the tradition of Murano glass by crossbreeding it with the global culture of contemporary art.
“He believes in contemporary expression, but at the same time tries to develop this old technique into a new language … I’m a contemporary artist, but I am always learning and working with tradition.”[3] In 2009, in order to extend to reach and the significance of his project, Adriano Berengo initiated a new gallery, Venice Projects, to promote an evolution in the relationship between art and glass.
The exhibition, called Glasstress, included historical pieces by Man Ray, Lucio Fontana, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Hamilton, Giuseppe Penone and Joseph Kosuth, and more recent glass artworks by, among others, Tony Cragg, Lawrence Carroll, Chen Zhen and Jannis Kounellis.
[4] The experiment was so successful that Glasstress had a new edition at the 2011 Biennale,[5] with several works specially commissioned for the event by outstanding artists, designers and architects (Barbara Bloom, Jan Fabre, Vik Muniz, Tony Oursler, Javier Pérez, Thomas Schütte, Kiki Smith, Yutaka Sone, Mike + Doug Starn, Patricia Urquiola, Zaha Hadid, Fred Wilson and many others).
[6] The exhibition provided the Studio with the opportunity to collaborate with designers such as Maarten Baas, and Sam Baron for the first time.