Spilled milk with a touch of the street:
Dante Marioni‘s vessels are a high class version of high jinks. He favors bright primaries and a mosaic grid of monochromatic patterning so fluid it seems to be circling the drain, ready to dissolve. He likes hourglass curves, delicate feet, swans’ necks and flattened bubbles in towering stacks.
His work has rhythm, grace and attitude.
Son of glass artist Paul Marioni, Dante grew up with glass, taking his first rod out of the furnace at age 10 and saturating himself in his teens in the practice, history and aesthetic possibilities of the medium.
By high school, he was a pro and saw no need to interrupt his career with college.
Raised among those who prized art over craft, he found his identity in the craft camp. What moved him was skill and polish. Growing up in Seattle in the 1970s, he was in a good position to acquire both.
In 1971, Dale Chihuly helped found Pilchuck Glass School and hired Venetian master craftsmen to teach there. Following the lead of Venetians such as Lino Tagliapietra and Venice-trained Americans such as Ben Moore and Richard Marquis, Marioni became so skilled that he was in demand on top glass-blowing teams while still in high school. In 1987, at age 23, he had his first solo show at the William Traver Gallery and sold it out. (Those were the days.)
In spite of his insistence that he’s a craftsman first and foremost, there was never been any doubt that he’s an artist. The objects he makes are a response to the world in which he lives. They are his blend of ancient pottery, Art Deco, comics and above all a Pop sensibility, fused and purified by his natural inclination toward the crisp, witty and lean.
His straight-shot tones are cunningly uncomplicated, both direct and silky. His mosaic patterns have an airy, smoky quality. The colors that define them look as if electric currents left them burnt and fragile at their roots.
Every year, working within a well-defined vocabulary, he gets better and better. Sunday is the last day for his latest at Traver Gallery.
An Artist? You bet! Sometimes there is a joy that bubbles up from within when viewing the creations of others. My own sincere thank you to Mr. Marioni for simply being who he is.
Somehow I can visualize him collaborating with a wrought iron artist and incorporating his glass vision into a curvy metal design. Juan Alonzo?
By the way, Regina, your own descriptive was kinda nice as well.
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