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Ceramiche Refin presents GLINT

QUAYOLA X REFIN DTS 2024

During the last Cersaie in Bologna (Italy), held from 23 to 27 September, Ceramiche Refin presented GLINT Variation, the collection of unique ceramic pieces created together with QUAYOLA, inside the renovated exhibition Gallery in the company headquarters. This was the last stage of the journey undertaken with the artist as part of the REFIN DTS - Daring Art Explorations project.

After the presentation at the Fuorisalone last April of the GLINT masterpiece, a site-specific installation designed by Quayola for the Refin Studio spaces in Milan, the experimental journey between the company and the artist continued and led to the creation of Variation: a collection of sculptural pieces in porcelain stoneware, an evolution and reinterpretation of the work presented in Milan and a pure expression of the technical and material contamination between the artist and the Refin laboratory.

The GLINT project is the protagonist of the DTS area within the company spaces, in an exhibition that narrates the journey undertaken by the company with Quayola: from the work of art already presented in Milan, to the experimentation of the Refin laboratory with the artist, up to revealing the Variation as the final result of this project, with which the company inaugurated the new path of artistic collaborations REFIN DTS - Daring Art Explorations, curated by Valentino Catricalà and which will be renewed annually with internationally renowned artists.

Glint Variation is the collection of unique ceramic pieces resulting from the four-handed experimentation undertaken by the company with Quayola.

A celebration of the Masterpiece work presented last April, and directly inspired by it, the Variation represents the technical and material contamination between the artist and the Refin Laboratory and expresses the audacity in exploring new worlds and experimenting with new possibilities for porcelain stoneware.

The research path for the development of the Glint ceramic variation was complex and extremely stimulating. The real challenge for Refin was to be able to reproduce on the surface of the porcelain stoneware a structure that recreated the geometry developed by Quayola to represent the ripples of water.

To do so, the company undertook a long process with the artist made up of tests, trials and continuous comparisons to explore new production techniques and a special ceramic mold was designed that allowed for the pressing of a bas-relief structure.

The collection

The result is a collection of sculptural pieces in porcelain stoneware in 30x30cm and 30x60cm formats with a thickness of 20mm, with black glazed surfaces and edges.

Glint Variation 30x30cm is made up of 4 different subjects and can be inserted into interior design projects as a composition of pieces of art or to create scenographic full-wall coverings.

Glint Variation 30x60cm format is instead a single subject, proposed as a single piece of art produced in a limited edition of 99 pieces and delivered with a numbered certificate of authenticity.

Quayola about Glint:

“Glint is first and foremost a research, a process.

Both the sculpture Glint and the Variations document my study of the relationship between light and complex geometries. My idea was to crystallize the light effects on the surface of the water in a physical and tangible object.

Glint Variations are like several works in one, there is no precise dimension. Being modular, the different pieces can be assembled together arriving at a scale, if you like, immersive.”

“Glint is an object with a static geometry, of course, but its level of light reflection and geometric complexity mean that it can create very different light effects. It is an object that you cannot capture well, it changes shape and appearance depending on the light conditions and the point of view from which you observe it, and this is what makes it special in my opinion.”

“...it was an interesting synergy: on one hand my slightly naive and dreamy approach and on the other their ambition to go beyond the limits and succeed in finding solutions that could generate this result.”

About QUAYOLA

Quayola employs technology as a lens to explore the tensions and equilibriums between seemingly opposing forces: the real and artificial, figurative and abstract, old and new. Landscape painting, classical sculpture and iconography are some of the historical aesthetics that serve as a point of departure for Quayola’s hybrid compositions. His varied practice, all deriving from custom computer software, also includes audiovisual performance, immersive video installations, sculpture, and works on paper.

His work has been performed and exhibited in many prestigious institutions worldwide including V&A Museum, London; Park Avenue Armory, New York; National Art Center, Tokyo; UCCA, Beijing; How Art Museum, Shanghai; SeMA, Seoul; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Ars Electronica, Linz; Sonar Festival, Barcelona and Sundance Film Festival.

About Ceramiche Refin

“We are an Italian company and we are active on the international markets since 1962.

We are part of Gruppo Concorde, a world’s leading group in the ceramic industry sector.

Our brand purpose is to embellish living spaces around the world with the beauty and emotion of Italian design while respecting the goals of our stakeholders, society and the environment we live in. Our laboratory is the beating heart of our company and we stand out in the market thanks to our unique and creative approach. We believe that the synergy between technological innovation and artisan experimentation is the key to develop a Made in Italy product of the highest aesthetic and technical quality.

We provide the world of architecture and interior design with a wide range of porcelain stoneware solutions.

REFIN DTS – Daring Art Explorations is our project dedicated to contemporary art, born to encourage and celebrate boldness through contamination and experimentation with internationally renowned artists.”