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Explore Artisans Museums & Galleries Experience Itineraries About
© Benoit Page
@ YannSavalle
©Barbara Kaucher
© Benoit Page
@ Ilan Dehe

Antoine Pierini

  • Glass sculptor
  • Biot, France
  • Master Artisan
Antoine Pierini Glass sculptor
Contact
French, English
Hours:
By appointment only
Phone:
+33 493650114
© Barbara Kaucher

Connections through molten glass

  • • Pierini comes from a family of glass artisans
  • • His art is often inspired by the Mediterranean
  • • He is a vital part of the Biot glass arts movement

Antoine Pierini was born in 1980, the same year his parents established their glass arts centre in the city of Biot, France. He grew up in a world of glassblowing and art, with a playground beside his father’s studio, and he tells how he learned by watching and has always been fascinated by it. In 1995, the family traveled to Seattle, WA, working to create a connection between US-based artists and the community in Biot. “This was when it really struck me, when I recognized the power of the sculptural aspect of blown glass,” Antoine explains. This was his inciting moment, and he’s worked ever since, innovating and exploring many themes but with a close focus on the Mediterranean world and its context.

Read the full interview

Works

  • © Gaëlle Pierini
  • © Ilan Dehe
  • © Ilan Dehe
  • © Ilan Dehe
  • © Ilan Dehe
Photo: © Gaëlle Pierini
On the Rock

This sculpture was handcrafted in transparent glass, using a stone from the Valley of Marvels (Vallée des Merveilles) as a mould. This mysterious place holds the biggest European deposit of natural glass, also called fulgurite, which is the result of lightning striking sandy ground. Antoine’s On the Rock series recreates the swift change in mass which, through it's movement evokes frozen waterfalls or lava flowing.

Height 27 cm
Length 37 cm
Width 15 cm

Photo: © Ilan Dehe
Immaculées

Immaculées is composed of hand blown glass sculptures, engraved and sandblasted. Antoine created this series to question our relationship to the Mediterranean cultural heritage. The amphora is a Mediterranean object by excellence. Tracing its history serves to highlight the lifestyle of people and civilisations who for thousands of years, shaped our western identity. 

Height 165 cm
Length 169 cm
Width 100 cm

Photo: © Ilan Dehe
Dune

Dune is an installation of hand blown glass sculptures of different sizes. Antoine drew inspiration from the concave and convex sand dunes he observed in the Tunisian desert, turning them into bubbly, ovoid forms, on the verge of abstraction. Movement and dynamics lie at the heart of these sculptures. By playing with textures: iridescent, sandblasted, faceted or engraved, he aspires to display the variety of effects produced by the wind on sand dunes.

Height 70 cm
Length 380 cm
Depth 120 cm

Photo: © Ilan Dehe
Apesanteur

Antoine’s Apesanteur (weightlessness) glass sculpture plays with the concept of light, tricking the eye. Bright and colourful strips are complemented by fine brass bubbles, creating an eye-catching and abstract effect.

Height 26 cm
Length 30 cm
Width 10 cm

Photo: © Ilan Dehe
Carthage

Carthage is part of a series of hand blown glass created to question our relationship to the Mediterranean cultural heritage. The amphora is a Mediterranean object by excellence. Tracing its history serves to highlight the lifestyle of people and civilisations who for thousands of years, contributed to shaping our western identity.

Height 117 cm
Length 25 cm
Length 25 cm
Width 1.2 cm

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