Wonderglass illuminates Song Dong’s first Italian solo show
The Venetian glassmakers collaborate with Turin's MAO museum to create neon installations for the Beijing artist's introspective exhibition on time, memory and impermanence.
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Neon script glows across the coffered ceilings of Palazzo Mazzonis in Turin, casting its crimson luminescence onto the graceful curves of neoclassical plasterwork. Wonderglass, the Venetian glassmakers long devoted to the marriage of craft and contemporary vision, has created a series of hand blown neon installations for Song Dong’s first solo exhibition in Italy, continuing a partnership with MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale that reflects the studio’s commitment to working with international artists on work that transcends the decorative.
Song Dong, the Beijing born artist whose practice spans more than thirty years, uses repetition and everyday materials as a language for exploring time, memory and the inevitable passage of moments. His work draws on Taoist and Zen philosophy, asking viewers to pause within the accelerated modern world. The neon pieces, which illuminate Chinese characters and English phrases across the museum’s historic rooms, become vessels for these meditative ideas, their warm glow softening the architectural grandeur that surrounds them.
The exhibition, curated by Li Zhenhua and Davide Quadrio alongside Francesca Filisetti and Rebecca Ricci, extends through June 2027 and takes over the entire museum, positioning Song Dong’s installations and works in dialogue with MAO’s permanent collections. Each neon piece was conceived as a bespoke collaboration, a testament to Wonderglass’s mastery of the medium and its understanding that true luxury lies in the marriage of material mastery and artistic intention rather than ornamentation.
The partnership echoes Wonderglass’s long standing dedication to contemporary art contexts. The studio’s hand blown and cast glass methods, perfected across decades of practice, become the foundation for work that demands both technical precision and conceptual depth. In the palatial rooms of Palazzo Mazzonis, this union of craft and idea creates an experience that asks visitors to slow down and reflect.
Imagery courtesy of Wonderglass (@wonderglassltd).
