“Unlike various other art forms, with glasswork it is essential for the participant to use his sense of touch. I encourage my audience to have a real encounter with each piece. I want them to touch it, to caress it, and to understand the shapes and movements. Simply, I want the enthusiast to experience what I feel for my art - passion and love.”

Davide Salvadore

Davide descends from a family of glassworkers. At a very early age he began working with his grandfather Antonio in the furnaces of Murano where he learned how to work glass and build kilns. Soon after he began working in the studio of Alfredo Barbini. He later joined the team of glassmaster Loredano Rosin and collaborated in the Venini, Salviati and Ba

Davide Salvadore

Davide Salvadore Biography

Davide Salvadore descends from a family of glassworkers. At a very early age he began working with his grandfather Antonio in the furnaces of Murano where he learned how to work glass and build kilns. Soon after he began working in the studio of Alfredo Barbini. He later joined the team of glassmaster Loredano Rosin and collaborated in the Venini, Salviati, and Barovier & Toso glasshouses.

In 1978 Salvadore began producing lamp-worked beads in his mother, Anna  Mantoan’s, jewelry studio. This lead to a series of collaborations with fashion and design houses such as Roberta di Camerino, Yves Saint Laurent, Chrirstian Dior and Swatch.

He founded the studio Campagnol e Salvadore in 1987, where he mixed lamp-work and furnace techniques in new ways. The results were noteworthy and over time Davide began working for many prestigious glasshouses on Murano such as Nason & Moretti, Vincenzo Nason and La Murrina, as well as with the Istituto d’Arte di Venezia.

Salvadore’s current work includes a series of double neck vessels called “Ancella”, (African water giver) and musical instrument forms called “Chitamarra”(Venetian slang for lute-like instrument). In describing his work, Salvadore says, “My artwork finds its source from the culture, landscape, people, and way of life of the African Continent. First and foremost my inspiration is guided by the image of “Ancella”, the unforgettable image of a woman gently carrying a vase on her head. The strong and exaggerated use of colors, truth, and sinuosity of her movement inspire me with the ideas necessary to initiate my work. In African culture, colors are fundamental factors of identification, hence, I have mostly utilized earth- tone colors in the composition of my pieces.

I also incorporate other elements of African style such as vases, shields, spears and boats.”  Davide uses some of the oldest Venetian glassblowing techniques such as murrine and canes, incalmo and axis changing, and unites the technical perfection of this tradition with evolving contemporary artistic taste.

Salvadore is a founding member of “Centro Studio Vetro” in Murano, a non-profit cultural association founded to cultivate and promote the culture and art of glass in Italy and abroad. “Centro Studio Vetro” publishes the international glass art magazine “Vetro” and organizes a yearly International Glass Workshop.

Davide Salvadore Resumé

Education:

Apprenticeships and Collaborations:

1973 - Venini, Salviati, and La Murrina studios

1968 - Loredano Rosin studio

1966 - Alfredo Barbini studio

Teaching Experience:

Workshops, Demonstrations and Lectures - Including but not limited to:

2006 - Salem State College, Boston, MA

2006, 2005 - The Studio at the Corning Museum, Corning, NY

2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 - The Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey

2005 - Pilchuck Scool of Glass, with Pino Signoretti, Stanwood, WA

          - Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA

2004 - The Glass Museum, Tacoma, WA

          - Vetro Ricerca, Bolzano, Italy

          - The Corning Museum, Corning, NY

2003 - Ohio University, Columbus

           - BAGI, San Jose, CA

           - Urban Glass, NY

2002 - Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA

2001 - Grand Crystal Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

          - Centro Studio Vetro, Venice, Italy

2000 - The18th International Glass Art Festival, Niijima, Japan

           - Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, WA

1999, 1997 - National Glass Foundation, La Granja, Spain

1998 - Cerfav School of Glass, Vannes Le Chatel, France

Publications: Including but not limited to:

2002 - “Davide Salvadore, Avant-Garde Within Tradition”- Vetro, #16

          -  “The Centro Studio Vetro, Venice”- Craft Arts, #55

2001 - GAS Newsletter; The China Post; The Great Entertainment Daily, Taipei;

          -  Glass, USA; Nouvel Object, Korea

2000 - “L’Arte in un Soffio”, Sopratutto, Italy

           -“Il Volto Nuovo della Tradizione”, Vetro, Italy

1999 - “Spiegelsaal ‘99”, Weltkunst- Kunst und Antiquitaten, Germany

1998 - “Deux Maitres Venitiens a Vannes”, Jean-Paul Germonville, France

Exhibitions: Including but not limited to:

2001 - Leon Salet Arte, Maastricht, Netherlands

          -“Contemporary Muranese Glass Art”, Grand Crystal Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

2000 – “Kunstrai”,  Amsterdam, Netherlands

           -“Art Antique”, Dusseldorf, Germany

           -  Kunst and Antiquitaten-Messe in Hannover-Schloss, Herrenhain, Germany

1999 - “Fine Art Fair”,Dusseldorf andHamburg, Germany

         -  Museum fuer Kunst and Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany

         -  “Millenium Glass”,  Millville,New Jersey

1998 - “Venezia Aperto Vetro” Venice, Italy

Collections:

Museum of the National Glass Foundation, La Granja, Spain