From August 28 to September 30, 2025, Polish photographer Marcin Gierat presents “MATERIAL MEMORY – Man in the Glass” at Librairie Rupture Arts & Books, inside Le Corbusier’s La Cité Radieuse in Marseille.
Organized by Zuecca Projects and the Rupture network of art and bookstores, and curated by Marica Denora, the exhibition marks the French premiere of Gierat’s acclaimed series. First shown at The Venice Glass Week 2020, where it received a Special Mention from the Bonhams Prize, the project has since gained international recognition.
Material Memory: Human Presence in Glass
Marcin Gierat, “Man in the Glass,” installation shot, courtesy of Zuecca Projects.
The exhibition explores the relationship between human presence and material memory, qualities embedded in both Gierat’s practice and the modernist architecture of Le Corbusier. On view is the photographic series “Man in the Glass,” dedicated to the timeless artistry of Murano glassmaking.
For this body of work, realized in 2020, Gierat employed the wet-collodion process, a 19th-century photographic technique. Using antique cameras, he captured portraits of Murano’s master glassmakers directly onto handcrafted glass plates—themselves made by the artisans depicted. In collaboration with three historic Murano workshops—Barovier&Toso, NasonMoretti, and the Schiavon Art Team—bespoke plates were produced using secret family recipes and traditional techniques. Each plate, with its distinctive color, texture, and size, served as both medium and memory. The result is a series of double portraits: the likeness of the master craftsmen, and the legacy of their material tradition embodied in the glass plates themselves. Gierat’s project thus transforms glass into both surface and subject, both vessel and vision.
A Dialogue Between Photography and Architecture
Marcin Gierat, “Man in the Glass,” installation shot, courtesy of Zuecca Projects.
Marcin Gierat, “Man in the Glass,” installation shot, courtesy of Zuecca Projects.
The choice of La Cité Radieuse as the exhibition site is no coincidence. Le Corbusier’s radical vision for collective living celebrated transparency, structure, and the human scale. Similarly, “Man in the Glass” reflects on the enduring bond between human gesture and material outcome.
Glass was one of the protagonists of 20th-century architecture. Alongside steel and concrete, it formed the foundation of Le Corbusier’s work—the “industrial” materials of the machine age. Yet, in the transition from pure concept to practical execution, the hand of the artisan inevitably intervened. This dialogue between theory and practice is also present in Gierat’s project: the tension between the formal needs of photography and the irregularity of Murano glass.
Gierat’s plates embody this contrast. Rectangular and prismatic to satisfy the camera’s demands, yet handmade and textured according to centuries-old artisanal expertise, they transcend industrial uniformity to reclaim glass’s artisanal essence. In the same spirit, Le Corbusier’s Pilotis at La Cité Radieuse expose the rough imprint of wooden formwork, their imperfect textures revealing the labor of the craftsman.
This shared tension—between pure form and material imperfection—infuses both Gierat’s photographs and Le Corbusier’s architecture with emotional resonance. Each reminds us that beyond abstraction lies something tactile, human, and imperfect.
From Venice to Marseille
Marcin Gierat, “Man in the Glass,” installation shot, courtesy of Zuecca Projects.
First unveiled in Venice during The Venice Glass Week 2020, “Man in the Glass” was recognized with a Special Mention from the Bonhams Prize for its contribution to contemporary glass culture. Its Marseille presentation, supported by Zuecca Projects and the Rupture network, extends the project’s reach while situating it in dialogue with one of France’s most significant modernist landmarks.
Rupture, an international network of art spaces and bookstores, connects venues in Venice and Marseille, reinforcing the cultural exchange embodied by Gierat’s work. With this exhibition, centuries of Murano glassmaking encounter Le Corbusier’s radical modernism in a space where both memory and material converge.
Who is Marcin Gierat
Marcin Gierat, “Man in the Glass,” installation shot, courtesy of Zuecca Projects.
Born in Krakow, Poland, in 1978, Marcin Gierat first studied at the Jagiellonian University, earning a diploma from the Faculty of Management and Social Communication in 2003. He continued at the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations before pursuing his passion for photography in Italy. In Florence, he studied fashion photography at the Accademia Italiana, training at Roberto Quagli’s studio, where he earned his diploma in 2006 and began a long-standing collaboration with Studio Quagli. Returning to Krakow in 2011, Gierat has since maintained a practice spanning both Poland and Italy, working across artistic and fashion photography.
He collaborates closely with Zuecca Projects in Venice and is a member of the LEA44 association and Pracownia Drożdżownia. His practice emphasizes the materiality of photographic processes, with works that embody the physical traces of memory, craft, and time.
Exhibition Details
Marcin Gierat, “Man in the Glass,” installation shot, courtesy of Zuecca Projects.
“MATERIAL MEMORY – Man in the Glass” runs from August 28 to September 30, 2025, at La Cité Radieuse, 280 Bd Michelet, Marseille. Curated by Marica Denora and supported by Zuecca Projects and Rupture, the exhibition bridges Venice, Murano, Krakow, Florence, and Marseille into a singular narrative. It reminds visitors that behind every image, material, and building lies the mark of craft, touch, and memory.
