Artist of the Month
October 2018
Leslie Ann Genninger
Leslie Ann Genninger, an American designer based in Venice, Italy, is celebrating 30 years of Murano glass inspiration. Leslie works alongside some of the most highly skilled Murano glass masters and artists to create her unique glass jewelry and Vetri Maledetti sculptures. Her design studio and gallery, Genninger Studio, are located in the heart of the museum district of the Dorsoduro Sestiere.
Click on each photo to the right for a full picture.
Group of Murano Glass necklaces of blown and flameworked beads using filigrana, murrine battuto, multistrato, avventurina, and incalmo techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions and semi-precious stones and conteria
Group of Murano Glass necklaces of blown and flameworked beads using filigrana, murrine battuto, multistrato, avventurina, and incalmo techniques along with 24k yellow and white gold leaf inclusions and semi-precious stones and conteria
Group of Murano Glass necklaces of blown and flameworked beads using filigrana, murrine battuto, multistrato, avventurina and incalmo techniques along with 24k yellow and white gold leaf inclusions and semi-precious stones and conteria
Murano Glass necklace of blown and flameworked beads using murrine battuto, multistrato, avventurina, incalmo, and millefiori techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions and semi-precious stones and conteria
Murano Glass flower choker necklace of blown and flameworked beads using multistrato and incalmo techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions and wrapped with 24 k gold wire
Murano Glass necklace of blown and flameworked beads using murrine battuto, multistrato, and avventurina techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions and conteria filled blown beads
Murano Glass necklace of blown and flameworked beads using murrine battuto, avventurina, and incalmo techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions and semi-precious stones and conteria
Hand blown Murano Glass goblets with the boleton bubble techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions. 10.5 high x 9.5 x 13.5 inches
Hand blown Murano Glass goblets with the boleton bubble techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions. 10.5 high x 9.5 x 13.5 inches
Hand blown Murano Glass goblets with the boleton bubble techniques along with 24k gold leaf inclusions. 10.5 high x 9.5 x 13.5 inches
Vetri Maledetti Sculptures: antique and vintage Murano Glass elements from the 1950s to 1980s, inscribed with antique Venetian proverbs such as “Passione orba rason” (Passion blinds reason) and “L’amor no xe fato solo de amor” (Love is not made only of love). Constructed on a steel center and base. Height 30 - 40 inches.
Leslie Ann Genninger
About Leslie Ann Genninger
Leslie is an American designer who visited Venice, Italy for the first time in 1988 and fell in love with its way of life, history, cuisine, art, and Murano Glass. She decided to make Venice her home and pursue her artistic inspiration. This October Leslie celebrates over 30 years of Murano Glass inspiration. Her design studio and gallery are located in the heart of the museum district of the Dorsoduro Sestiere.
Leslie works alongside some of the most highly skilled Murano Glass Masters and artists and incorporates into her designs secretive blowing, color, and cold-working techniques, many of which date back over 1,000 years. She creates a collection of unique Murano glass jewelry using elaborated flameworked and blown beads, incorporating 24k gold leaf into all her creations as well as the sophisticated coloring techniques of avventurina, filigrana, murrine battuto, sommerso, and multistrato. Her beads have been likened to miniature Jackson Pollock-type canvases, her jewelry to Peggy Guggenheimesque gems, and her goblets to post-modern wine connoisseur delights.
She prides in working directly with her private collectors in designing or curating artworks for their homes, offices, and hotels. Among her valued international clientele are Gianni Versace, Elton John, Ivana Trump, Martha Stewart, Steven Wynn, as well as many amazing AACG glass collectors. Many of her designs can be found in leading museums worldwide such as the Museum of Art and Design in NYC; the Racine Museum in Wisconsin; the Museum of Glass in Tacoma; the Ringling College of Art + Design and The Ringling Museum of Art, both in Sarasota, Florida; and the Venetian Glass Museum in Otaru, Japan.
Vetri Maledetti Sculptures
During her years of working with the great Murano Glass Masters, artisans, and factories, Leslie collected thousands of glass elements, many of which were made during the 1950s to the 1980s. It is with these antique and contemporary elements she has created a unique collection of figurative totems called “Vetri Male-Detti” or “Cursed Glass."
These sculptures are composed in a vertical collage of Murano glass forms, each inscribed with an ancient Venetian proverb or “detto” which is both universal and relevant in its message, and unique in caricature and personality. Leslie creates a dialogue between the proverbial Venetian phrases engraved on the contemporary black massive glass and the delicately colored antique elements, illuminating and reinforcing the importance of fading traditions and cultures of the “Serenissima." As a collective, these sculptures come to life presenting a personal journey inspired by this noble material, her relationship with generations of Muranese, and 1,000-year-old Murano traditions.
Acknowledgment of Gallery:
We are grateful to Genninger Studio, Venice, Italy, for providing the materials for the Artist of the Month.
The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.
