Triplets, trios & triumvirates

Arts & Activities, Jan, 2005 by Tara Cady Sartorius

"I started blowing glass and discovered that I liked tall and thin forms, and my pieces have gradually gotten that way. When I make drawings, that's the way they come out: tall and thin. It can take me several years before I am able to make what I have drawn. My eye has evolved too. Looking at slides of my early work, I remember that at the time I thought my vessels were perfect. Now I look at this work and I see that I'm much better today at what I do."

--Dante Marioni. Retrieved from Marioni's resume at the Bullseye Connection Gallery Web site: www.bullseyeconnectiongallery.com.

One of the strongest forms, in terms of physical structure, is the triangle. Aesthetically, three elements in an artistic composition also make strong visual sense. To your left are three glass vessels all connected as one work of art. It is not that each one isn't strong on its own; it's just that the work as a whole is stronger with the three together.

Each form was carefully crafted from blown glass by artist Dante Marioni (b. 1964) and this arrangement could only be possible after his ability to create each vessel form had been perfected. He worked out his designs and techniques over the course of several years, and only then was he able to use his skill to create three different vessels all connected through color, scale and upright posture.

The title, New Blue Trio with Red, both identifies the work and carries multiple meanings. It is one trio--one collection of three forms--and this arrangement is similar to other trios (he also makes pairs) that comprise a strong part of his signature works. So what is new? Probably the blue. Marioni is particular about his color. He tends toward solid colors, and usually ones that are somewhat electric in nature. The blue in this trio is new because it is cool and understated, perhaps having slight amounts of green and black added to darken it.

All three forms speak of function, but they are not functional, except in an eye-pleasing aesthetic sense. A pitcher, a goblet and a flask are all things that could be useful in the real world if only they weren't so oversized. Marioni has deliberately increased the scale of his work, as much as proof of his own technical abilities as to highlight the graceful refined lines of the forms themselves. These objects are more about beauty than utility. They are stately and elegant, but not useful in a strictly practical sense.

Owning a work by Dante Marioni implies at least some exposure to art history: they evoke ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan forms. Marioni, who is well aware of his artistic sources, purposely selected these forms and modified them to suit his own aesthetic. He exaggerates the scale and adds detail ornament (high lighting the foot, lip and handles, for example, with a contrasting color) on the pieces, and usually makes them in only two colors.

Whereas the ancient cultures in the Mediterranean areas painted highly sophisticated figurative images in black and red clay slip (liquid colored clay) on the surfaces of their works, Marioni is primarily concerned with form, and the space around his forms. The large pieces, often 40 inches high, with their simplified color schemes draw more attention to their formal qualities.

Dante Marioni was born in Mill Valley, Calif., just north of San Francisco. Dante's father, Paul, was a glass artist and took young Dante with him to craft fairs and his glassmaking studio. His father began teaching at Seattle's Pilchuck Glass School in 1974, just three years after its founding by Dale Chihuly and Anne and John Hauberg. Evidently Paul found the Seattle artistic environment nurturing enough for his entire family, so when Dante was 15 they moved to the hub of the 20th-century American Art Glass movement. To this day Seattle continues to be haven for a thriving glass community.

Leonardo da Vinci is often quoted as having said, "Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master." If true, then Marioni is rich indeed! It was at Pilchuck that 18-year-old Dante Marioni met glassblower Benjamin Moore. Moore's process and artistic sensibilities spoke to many of Dante's unanswered questions about art making and glass blowing in particular.

Prior to meeting Moore, Marioni had seen many glass blowers create works he considered of low aesthetic value. "When I started working in glass at age 15, I had no interest in being an artist or a craftsperson. But then I saw Ben Moore work. For the first time, I saw someone make something round, on center, and perfect." *

Moore's refined work inspired Marioni to see the value in pursuing a career in glass. The decisive moment, however, came about a year later when Marioni saw the Italian glass master, Lino Tagliapietra, at work. At that point Marioni says, "there was no turning back." * He was hooked.

After studying with both Moore and Tagliapietra, Marioni worked on his own, perfecting his sWle and technique. As he became better and better, he then became a teacher working alongside both his mentors. He is now, at least, considered by the art world to be an equal with his teachers. Marioni is represented in many major American museums (the prestigious Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, for one) and has won numerous awards, including his 1988 Young Americans award from the American Craft Museum in New York, N.Y.