Davide Salvadore
Italian, born 1953Springarpa 1, 2007
On view
Blown, cold-worked glass with murrine beads, string, steel base
Dimensions47 1/2 × 12 1/4 × 23 in. (120.7 × 31.1 × 58.4 cm)
Courtesy of the Isabel Foundation, L2017.110
Davide Salvadore was born with glassmaking in his blood. An eleventh-generation Italian glassworker, he began his own career in glass at a young age. In Springarpa [spring-ar-pa], Salvadore’s appreciation for African culture and its aesthetics is apparent. According to the artist, the use of reds and yellows, as well as the incorporation of the style of traditional African beadwork, is evocative of the colors and textures of Africa. Salvadore used a traditional Italian glass-working technique called buttatto [bah-too-toe], which means “beaten: in Italian. During this coldworking process the artist uses a grinding wheel to create facets on the glass surface, revealing the vibrant orange color underneath
