Fondazione Berengo

Venice, Italy

2022

The group exhibition ‘Glasstress - State of Mind’ in Murano was one of the most important milestones in Simon Berger's artistic career. Invited by the patron of glass art, Adriano Berengo, the show was on display in Murano, Italy, from June to November 2022, coinciding with the 59th Venice Biennale. The aim of the Glasstress exhibitions is to bring together contemporary artists working with glass to demonstrate the unlimited ways in which the material can be used for creative explorations. Over the course of years, Glasstress has featured sculptures and two-dimensional works that demonstrate the unexplored nature of glass as a medium for creative expression, bringing together pioneering artists who seek to shape the liquid or solid glass into new forms of being. Since 2009, when the first edition of Glasstress was launched, many of the most renowned contemporary artists have presented their works in this stronghold of glass art. The opportunity to show his work alongside international artists such as Ai Weiwei, Erwin Wurm, Jaume Plensa, Laure Prouvost and Thomas Schütte has had a major impact on Simon Berger's subsequent work. It placed his glass portraits within a collective of artists who continue to write the history of contemporary glass art and placed the material within the current art scene. This exhibition further ignited Simon Berger's passion on his path of artistic exploration, as he himself is constantly striving to go deeper into yet unseen possibilities of his technique.