Leseprobe

forms typical of Venice. His chalices may be reminiscent of the Renaissance or the works of Antonio Salviatis (1816–1890) and his bottles are variations on the standard form of Vittorio Zecchin’s (1878– 1947) vase, but Ohira simplified the forms, reduced the ornament, and enlivened his designs primarily through colour. Elements borrowed from theMemphis aesthetic also indicate a contemporary influence. In that series, Ohira paid homage to the skill of the local glassblowers and the famous transparency and delicateness of Venetian cristallo —and Venice’s art glass tradition per se. With his design rigour, elegant purity of form, and subtle colour combinations, he also continued in the spirit of the classical masters’ output, distancing himself from the effect-orientated sculptural works that were popular in the 1980s. Ohiraworked as a designer at DeMajo for several years. He continuously developed his design language further and explored new techniques while concentrating on the production of unique pieces of out- standing glass-blowing quality. Ohira was able to draw on the talent of artisan craftspeople and a pro- found knowledge of Venetian glass’s tradition. In 1991, another decisive encounter impacted Yoichi Ohira’s career. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of glassblowers, and Murano holds an annual exhibition of the output of local artisans on his name day. Ohira noticed a classically blown pitcher at that year’s exhibition. It was typical of Venice, but somaster- ful, balanced, harmonious, and elegantly proportioned that it stood out among the other exhibits. The pitcher was made by Livio Serena, known as ‘Maisasio’, who worked as a glassblower at Anfora, a small company owned by Renzo Ferro. Ohira promptly met Serena and a fruitful collaboration began. Based on Ohira’s meticulous preparations, including extremely precise, richly detailed drawings of his designs, more complex works occasionally resulted from their teamwork. The exchange of ideas between the two men alongside the scrupulously precise combination of the murrines to be used in production ensured that the artistic idea and its realisation by an artisan would mesh as early as the design stage. ‘I think Livio Serena is one of the last great Murano masters. He not only possesses excellent technical skills, but also the authentic, intuitive spirit of the great Murano masters of long ago. When working, his movements are as fast, fluid, and agile as if he were dancing to rhythmic music. You can see the blood of his glass-making ancestors coursing through his veins. He was born a glassblower but even before he was born, he was a glassblower.’ 1 – Yoichi Ohira Ohira compared Serena to a dancer whose transfers his graceful movements to the glass. The artist greatly admired Serena’s traditional artisan craftsmanship and was consummately successful at making the craftsman’s talent productive for his works. Even if the ideas were his own and although those ideas were clearly defined, Ohira knewthat Serena’s hands contained themillennium-old traditionofMuranese glass-making, and they would bring his ideas to expression under gentle, sensitive guidance. Ohira aspired to a rediscovery and renaissance of the heritage embodied by the glassblower. The works they created together are the result of a symbiosis between the Japanese artist and the Venetian glassblower, who reach out to each other between the blowpipe and furnace. In an ingenious interplay of planning and daring, in his own way each man contributed to the creation of unique objects. One with his ideas, his Asian cultural conditioning, and profound knowledge of glass and the other a son of the lagoon, with the intuition of an artisan who has carried out every movement an infinite number of times and has mastered his craft in minute detail. 1  Yoichi Ohira: A Phenomenon in Glass , Rizzoli 2002. Excerpt from an interview between Barry Friedmann and Yoichi Ohira. 87