ESH Gallery is pleased to present Blue. Signs from the Sea, a group show dedicated to the sea world and the universe related to it.

Alongside names already known at ESH Gallery, new entries are also presented, whose work will enter for the first time in harmony with the soul of ESH.

The title of the exhibition presents an explicit reference to water, a natural element rich in symbolic meanings, which since ancient times assumes a fundamental role in the history of art.

Water, in addition to being the source of inspiration for the artists presented, also appears as one of the main elements on which Zen culture and spirituality is based, a motif that constitutes one of the points of reference in the gallery’s exhibition program.

Japanese ceramist Shinya Tanoue develops the exhibition’s concept realizing sculptural objects in earthenware. The artist’s works are characterized by the enveloping shape that recalls the structure of the seashell symbolizing the shell that wraps and protects, the blue enamel used to decorate the surface recalls the colour of the sea: a common subject in Japanese art, symbol of birth and source of life.

The water and the sea environment are represented figuratively by Alice Zanin’s seahorses, Filippo Rossato and Forges Davanzati’s madrepores, as well as symbolically in Angela Mellor’s works exploiting the translucency’s property of Bone China.

Here we are transported to a magical place where we are cradling by Ōki Izumi’s waves. Blue-green coloured glass sculptures immersed in a new installation that will be related to Vezzini & Chen duo’s Water and Sand wall sculpture, will create lighting effects typical of the marine landscape.

The gallery, as a demonstration of the growing interest in the field of contemporary jewellery, also presents a selection of sculptural jewels by the Chinese Wanshu Li, winner of the 2017 Joya Award Barcelona, one of the most prestigious awards dedicated to the sector.

Her sea creatures, similar to jellyfish with fluorescent colours, are immersed in the space and related to the blurred atmospheres of the sumi scenes by Reiko Tsunashima, creating in the viewer a multi-sensorial experience.

From its inception, the gallery’s aim has been to explore the fuzzy boundaries between art and design, envisaging new ways of imagination and aesthetics and increasing the contemporary craft sector. Emphasizing on contemporary ceramics, metalwork, glass, Japanese lacquer and contemporary jewellery, ESH’s artists envisaging new ways of imagination and aesthetics.

Artworks by: Claudio Destito, Andrea Forges Davanzati, Wanshu Li, Angela Mellor, Ōki Izumi, Filippo Rossato, Aki Rusu, Fumie Sasai, Shinya Tanoue, Reiko Tsunashima, Vezzini & Chen, Alice Zanin.