Who’s Who – Sergio Gnesin – WMODA

Animalia, our latest exhibition of Murano glass animals, is presented by Sergio Gnesin who has worked with WMODA since 2018. His first selling exhibition The Magic of Murano introduced WMODA visitors to vintage Venetian glass and he has kept the museum shop well stocked with beautiful designs by modern maestros ever since.

Sergio grew up in the Venice area and learned about glass design and techniques working in Murano. He has more than 25 years of experience in collecting and selling Murano glass in Italy and the USA. In 2003, Sergio wrote and edited a private catalog for Enrico Bersellini’s glass collection, which includes important works demonstrating the varied technical repertoire of Murano artisans from blown glass, solid glass, and lampwork.

The same year, he wrote a book about Ermanno Nason who helped artists, such as Picasso, Cocteau, and Chagall, realize their visions in glass. For several years, Sergio was associated with the Schiavon Art Team in Venice and was a glass specialist at Laguna Murano before moving to Florida. Since 2016, he has worked with American galleries putting together exhibitions and cultural events promoting luxury Italian design.

At the Magic of Murano exhibition, Sergio installed a monumental glass bamboo sculpture by Pino Castagna which comprised 280 pieces of hand-blown glass standing over 9 feet tall. He also featured a Harlequin mosaic playing fountain with wall sconces for the Carnival & Cabaret exhibition. For the Biophilia exhibition with Christopher Marley, Sergio contributed a swarm of beetles by Emanuel Toffolo and visitors had fun guessing which ones were glass and which were real.

As well as Toffolo, Sergio’s company, Seryolux represents several contemporary Murano masters in the USA including Pietro and Ricardo Ferro, and Dario Frare whose work is sold in the WMODA Studio Collection. He also collaborates with the Signoretto and the Zanetti glass factories. In addition to blown and lamp-worked sculptures of creatures from the Venetian lagoons, Sergio sells traditional Italian murrine designs in paperweights, vases, and goti, the Italian term for drinking glasses.

Sergio will be at WMODA on Museum Day, Saturday, September 18 from 12pm to 4pm introducing visitors to Murano glass and autographing copies of his book.