MATERIAL MEMORY
Man in the Glass by Marcin Gierat
dates 28.08-30.09.2025
The Venetian organization Zuecca Projects and the international network of art and bookstores Rupture are proud to announce the French premiere of “Man in the Glass” by Marcin Gierat, to be hosted at La Cité Radieuse, the architectural masterpiece by Le Corbusier in Marseille.
The exhibition, titled MATERIAL MEMORY and curated by Marica Denora, explores the relationship between human presence and materiality of memory: qualities deeply embedded both in Gierat’s work and in the modernist architecture of Le Corbusier.
On show, the photographic series Man in the Glass by Polish artist Marcin Gierat, dedicated to the timeless artistry of Murano glassmaking. The series consists of the portraits of Murano’s great glass masters, created using the wet-collodion process – one of the earliest photographic techniques from the 19th century. Gierat uses antique cameras, capturing each portrait directly onto bespoke glass plates, handcrafted by the artisans depicted in the images.
Realized in 2020, for this project Gierat collaborated with three of the most storied workshops of Murano: Barovier&Toso, NasonMoretti and Schiavon Art Team. Each furnace produced its own glass plates using secret family recipes and traditional techniques, showcasing distinctive colors, textures and sizes. These plates, created entirely by hand, then became the physical medium for the portraits.
Man in the Glass, Squero Castello, Venice 2020. Installation shot
The result is a series of double portraits: of the masters pictured by Gierat, and one of their material legacy, captured in the glass plates.
The choice of La Cité Radieuse as the exhibition site is no coincidence. Le Corbusier’s radical vision for collective living championed transparency, structure and human scale. In much the same spirit, Man in the Glass reflects on the enduring bond between human gesture and material outcome.
Glass is one of the protagonists of 20th-century architecture. Together with steel and concrete, it forms the foundation of Le Corbusier’s entire body of work. These are industrial materials – the materials of the twentieth century – just as “industrial” is the concept of architecture that Le Corbusier implements in La Cité Radieuse in Marseille: the machine à habiter.
However, from pure idea to practical implementation, the hand of the human being comes into play: the craftsman who works the materials and inevitably modifies them. This relationship between concept and practice is where the dialogue lies between the photographic and artistic work of Marcin Gierat and the architectural work of Le Corbusier.
Gierat’s work employs a type of glass that transcends its industrial nature and reclaims its artisanal essence. Murano glass, the epitome of handcrafted glass, encounters the photographic machine and the wet-collodion process: the plates are handmade, yet rectangular and prismatic in shape, as required by the camera. The production, however, is irregular and textured.
Already in the creation of the precious support for the artist’s work, there is a contrast between the formal needs of modernity and the centuries-old expertise of the Venetian artisan. On top of this, Gierat adds another layer, transforming the beautiful raw material into an artistic object.
Man in the Glass, Squero Castello, Venice 2020. Installation shot
In the same way, Le Corbusier’s famous Pilotis at La Cité Radieuse are rounded prisms that clearly reveal both the granularity of the concrete and the imprint of the wooden formwork crafted by worker-artisans.
It is this tension that generates the emotion conveyed by these works, despite their apparent differences. A tension between pure forms, the necessities of fabrication, the flawless colors of industrial paints and the varied hues of raw materials. Through this process, the work of Le Corbusier, like that of Marcin Gierat, goes beyond the abstraction of theory and returns to something tactile, rough, and concrete.
First unveiled in Venice during The Venice Glass Week 2020, Man in the Glass received a Special Mention from the Bonhams Prize, recognizing its contribution to contemporary glass culture. This new presentation in Marseille marks a significant step in the international promotion of the project, supported by Zuecca Projects and the Rupture network, which connects cultural spaces including bookstores in both Venice and Marseille.
MATERIAL MEMORY
Man in the Glass by Marcin Gierat
28 August – 30 September 2025
OPENING: 28 August at 6.30 pm
Librairie Rupture Arts & Books at La Cité Radieuse
(3rd floor) 280 Bd Michelet, Marseille, France