Massimo Micheluzzi Italian, 1957

Born in Venice in 1957, Massimo Micheluzzi was a photographer for the renowned Venini glass factory. This introduction to the glass world began his trajectory into becoming the prolific glass artist he is today.

Micheluzzi spent many years as an apprentice. Since then, his work has continued to evolve and explore new ways of molding the material while always remaining ‘true’ to the nature of glass.

Many of Micheluzzi’s glass vessels employ classic murrine and battuto techniques. Murrine is cross-sections of multi-patterned glass canes, then laid out on a plate, fused into a sheet in a furnace, and blown into a vessel. While infinite designs can be created, the process is thorough and challenging to execute. Battuto, meaning struck or beaten, is a meticulously tedious cold working carving technique that produces the rhythmic channels and grooves apparent in many of Micheluzzi’s works. While many glass artists employ artisans for the latter, Micheluzzi performs the battuto carving himself.

Micheluzzi’s work varies enormously. Some pieces are directly inspired by the life and history of his Venetian surroundings. While other works shift opacity, some are monochromatic while others color combinations are genius.

Massimo Micheluzzi studio and gallery are in Venice. His works have been exhibited in cities all over the world. They are in some international museums and various public and private collections such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Corning Museum of Glass in New York, Musée Des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Museo del Vetro di Murano in Venice and Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan. In 2019 Micheluzzi was awarded with the Glass in Venice prize by Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Venice.