Mauro Bonaventura

Born in Venice in 1965, Mauro Bonaventura graduated in electronics in 1983 and, immediately afterwards, by pure chance, started working as an apprentice in a Venetian glassworks, where he became passionate about the art of glassmaking, learning glassblowing and decoration techniques. Ten years later, he switched to lampworking, thanks to an encounter with a craftsman who invited him to visit his workshop. This type of work allows him to experiment with smaller works, which require greater precision in the use of the incandescent molten material.

During his formative years, he was drawn to the study of the human figure and, in order to perfect his technique, he enrolled at art school, graduating in 2003. Throughout his career, Mauro Bonaventura has collaborated with numerous artists, including Pino Signoretto, Massimo Nordio, and Marco Nereo Rotelli.

He has also exhibited at various institutions in Italy and abroad, including the GAA Foundation (on the occasion of the 2017 Venice Art Biennale) and the XVI International Architecture Exhibition in 2018. His works are on show at leading museums and galleries such as the Corning Museum of Glass (New York), the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), the Glasmuseum Alter Hof Herding, and the Hida Takayama Museum of Art, Museo de arte contemporáneo de vidrio de Alcorcón, Madrid. He also features in art catalogues and magazines, including Glashaus, Art & Art, the New Glass Review, and the Glass Art Society Journal. In 2021, he received the ‘Glass in Venice’ prize from the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti during Venice Glass Week.