There's a good reason you might catch a familiar Hollywood face staring back at you in the lobby at Avani Rio Novo Venice Hotel. Venetian mosaic artist Emanuele Sari has taken over the hotel's public spaces with "Cinema Reloaded: Mosaic Visions", a collaboration with Cris Contini Contemporary that turns glass, marble and gold leaf into portraits of icons from Monica Bellucci to Brigitte Bardot.
We sat down with Sari, who trained at the Orsoni furnace and studied under mosaic masters in Venice, to talk about his craft, his creative process and what it means to bring his work home to the city where he grew up.
1. You first encountered mosaic at the Orsoni furnace and the Mosaic School of Friuli in Spilimbergo, then spent years at the Berengo studio in Venice. What was it about mosaic that made you choose it as your medium?
I find it incredible how powerful mosaic can be in giving life to a creation when it is used in a certain way: it is as if it can bring to life whatever it depicts. At the same time, it is a surprisingly humble art form, one that is approachable by anyone and capable of offering great satisfaction even through the simplest gestures. This combination of expressive power and accessibility is what made me fall in love with mosaic and continues to inspire me to explore its endless possibilities.
2. You have been doing this for over twenty years now. Has your relationship with mosaic changed over time, or does it still feel the same as when you started?
I still experience the same feelings I had when I first started, but perhaps they are even more intense today. The more I explore mosaic, the more possibilities I discover, and the more I realise that it is an almost inexhaustible language. Every new discovery sparks new ideas and makes me want to experiment further.
After more than twenty years, rather than feeling that I know it inside out, I have the sense that there are still so many things to imagine and create. In recent years, I have also surrounded myself with an exceptional team of collaborators. Each of them, with their own sensibility and skills, brings me new inspiration and continually opens up new creative paths. It is also through this exchange that my relationship with mosaic continues to evolve and surprise me.
3. Your subjects range from art icons to modern cultural figures. How do you decide who or what your next subject becomes?
My creative process reflects my way of living: it is spontaneous, instinctive and rather relaxed. I like to "go with the flow", allowing myself to be surprised and seeing what life decides to put in front of me. Ideas often emerge in exactly this way, when I least expect them, perhaps from an external stimulus that may seem insignificant. I try to pay attention even to the most ordinary situations of everyday life and to deliberately break my habits. If I am walking, for example, I might decide to take a different route from the one I usually take, simply to see whether, by changing something in my routine, life might offer me something new.
So I try to remain relaxed, curious and receptive, without necessarily chasing the idea. Sooner or later, the intuition comes on its own: while I am walking, when I happen to notice something, or very often, while I am falling asleep. When that happens, I hold on to it and make a mental note of it. If I really like the idea, I develop it further, very often discussing it with Cristian and Fulvio, my two gallerists, to get their feedback and help in shaping it properly. Sometimes, however, I like an idea so much, and feel such a strong need to see it brought to life, that I immediately get to work without overthinking it or consulting anyone.
4. Looking back at everything you have created, is there one piece that surprised you with how people reacted to it?
I am a very empathetic person, and I believe I could describe myself as a sort of "emotion hunter": I enjoy experiencing emotions, but I enjoy just as much being able to evoke them in others. That is why, in every work I create, I always try to push this element as far as possible, aiming to provoke a reaction, whatever it may be: wonder, amusement, nostalgia, curiosity, or even something deeper.
I hope I have managed to achieve this with all the works I have created. One of the pieces that has probably elicited the strongest reactions is the work dedicated to the film Zoolander, which is currently on display at Avani Rio Novo Venice.
In addition to transforming its two unlikely protagonists into a mosaic, I wanted to accompany the work with a video entirely inspired by Zoolander, edited by the incredibly talented "Il Grande Flagello". What struck me was that, for weeks after the video was published, I continued to receive messages, comments and reactions from so many people. For me, this is one of the greatest satisfactions: seeing that a work is not simply looked at, but is able to spark something in the people who encounter it.
5. Your work is now on exhibition at Avani Rio Novo Venice. What does it mean to you to have your mosaics shown in that setting, and is there anything about this particular exhibition that feels different from previous ones?
I was born and raised in Venice and, during the twenty years I lived in the city, my home was very close to Avani Rio Novo Venice. So, for me, exhibiting here has felt a little like coming home, but doing so truly in grand style. Besides being a wonderful place, I have found the staff and communications team to be exceptionally professional. Seeing my works, entrusted to the gallery Cris Contini Contemporary, welcomed and showcased by professionals of this calibre, has been a great source of satisfaction for me and, I would say, also very encouraging: it gives you energy and confirms the value of the work you are doing.
Rapid fire questions
The material you love working with most (glass, marble, resin or stone)
Definitely glass, because of its incredible range of colours.
A subject you would love to create a portrait of one day
Jesus, because he is one of the figures who has been portrayed in mosaic more than almost anyone else throughout history, and I would like to portray him in my own way.
The piece you are proudest of
It's difficult to choose just one, but if I had to, I would say "The Big Lebowski".
The most interesting place you have ever found inspiration
I am a pop artist, and in this day and age, thanks to the internet, we have billions of sources of inspiration for creating pop art.
One word to describe your creative process
Eclectic.
