When it comes to glass, Murano immediately comes to mind, this island now known in the four corners of the world for the ancient tradition of glass masters. In the 1930s, Marco recovered this ancient tradition from the oldest ancestor, Varisco Varischi, experimenting with the glass engraving technique which he handed down to his son Italo, together with the respect and love for the mystery of earth and fire they transform into matter. Master glassmaker, in the 1940s he was awarded at the Murano Experimental Glass School. He later moved from Murano to the hinterland of Venice, to Treviso, between “quiet waters” and the uncertain sheen of surviving “façade frescoes”, where he began the splendid creative adventure with his son Italo in the Treviso laboratory .
Marco Varisco today, heir to the family tradition of his grandfather Marco and his father Italo, has preserverd and applied their teachings following them since he was a child. Thus he represented the continuity of the family of master glassmakers from Treviso, combining talent, imagination and enthusiasm. Marco already knew how to work glass at the age of 13 (his are the engravings on the Confirmation favors); after eighth grade he attended drawing school, but his fortune was to have worked side by side with both his grandfather and father, learning from them the craft techniques of glass working that allowed him to create, while still a teenager, complex and demanding works.
The three generations of the Variscos are present in the most prestigious museums, at the Vatican Museum, in the private collections of personalities from the world of sport, entertainment, fashion and culture; their works performed for the mayor of New York, for Bill Clinton, for the kings of Spain; the Olympic torch created for the first military Olympic Games is located in the Lausanne Museum; other works have been commissioned for various World Cups of alpine sports, for the Mundialito del Volleyball, for the FIBA basketball Oscar. And for many champions and teams.
The Varisco technique is very ancient, but Marco has been able to introduce and support modern techniques such as that of decomposition which has led him to new creations. Marco is proud of the cut crystal prism, used for scientific purposes for studies on the refraction of light. The piece is exhibited in the Capital Museum in Beijing.
Another work is present in the Victoria Albert Museum in London. We are talking about the Venetian Mirror, created in collaboration with Fabrica, a mirror that reflects images only if they are immobile, while mobile ones are invisible. Marco also fulfilled his dream of seeing a work exhibited in the prestigious Guggenheim Museum in New York.
There are numerous visitors who come to commission precious works and get to know an all-round artist, a calm man, also engaged in social work. In fact, in 2005 Varisco founded the “XI di Marca” Association with which he helps other associations that deal with children and situations where help is needed.
