GLAS, PLEXI
Paola Petrobelli
CASA YALI, Venice
Paola Petrobelli
CASA YALI, Venice
Opening: May 5, 2026, 6:00 to 8:00 PM
May 6 – September 20, 2026
Monday – Saturday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Presented on the occasion of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
In collaboration with Siegfried Contemporary, London
On the occasion of the Venice Art Biennale 2026, CASA YALI — a space dedicated to material research and contemporary design practices — presents Paola Petrobelli’s first solo exhibition in Venice. Born in Padua and based in London, Petrobelli returns to Venice presenting a new body of work.
The exhibition brings together a new series in handblown glass including the unconventional combination of acrylic and glass. The materials engage in a subtle dialogue, creating compositions that explore form, colour, spatial relationships, and light as an active, constitutive element of the work. In fact light goes through the pieces, shaping their perception and allowing the glass to exist as a self-sustaining, autonomous form, independent from external lighting or context conditions.
Petrobelli’s practice unfolds at the intersection of multiple lineages, connected to the materially grounded, anti-rhetorical approach of Carlo Scarpa — and to the experimental legacy of Ettore Sottsass. Her early training in molecular biology further informs her approach to colour and form, where variation, repetition and modulation become operative tools towards formal harmony and balance.
Petrobelli constructs systems in continuous evolution, where modular elements can be interchanged as both a formal strategy and a conceptual framework — questioning creativity and authorship while inviting viewers to playfully explore their infinite living potential.
Paola Petrobelli is a London-based designer, trained as a molecular biologist, she established her studio in London in the early 2000s, developing a post-minimalist practice in which glass — alongside other materials such as ceramics — becomes a medium to explore the dynamic interplay of colour, form, and modular systems. Alongside her independent practice, Petrobelli has collaborated with Wallpaper Magazine, Christian Dior, and The Other Criteria*, and her work has been presented at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan (Italian Design: Beyond the Crisis, 2014; W. Women in Italian Design, 2016). She collaborates with Siegfried Contemporary (London) and has exhibited with leading galleries including Libby Sellers (London), Perimeter Art and Design (Paris), and Angela Weber (Zurich), as well as at major platforms such as Design Miami/Basel, PAD Paris and London, Salone del Mobile Milan, London Design Festival, and Nomad Capri and St. Moritz.
CASA YALI
Centred around a striking venetian courtyard, CASA YALI is located on the ground floor of the YALI GLASS studio and comprises both a shop and an exhibition space.
Since its opening, the space has presented a group exhibition featuring Martino Gamper, Francis Upritchard, Karl Fritsch, Maddalena Kind and Marie Rose Kahane, followed by Ceremony, the first solo exhibition of Alexander Kirkeby, a young Danish glassblower and designer awarded a Special Mention at The Venice Glass Week 2024.
Subsequent projects include Microcosmo, a collection of glass jewellery developed through the collaboration between Suri and Simone Crestani, and Weaving: Between Land and Sea by American basket-maker Deborah Needleman. Most recently, CASA YALI presented the first solo exhibition of Geraldina Bassani Antivari as part of The Venice Glass Week 2025.
In 2026, the programme will continue with the first solo exhibitions in Venice of Paola Petrobelli and Amy Revier.
Centred around a striking venetian courtyard, CASA YALI is located on the ground floor of the YALI GLASS studio and comprises both a shop and an exhibition space.
Since its opening, the space has presented a group exhibition featuring Martino Gamper, Francis Upritchard, Karl Fritsch, Maddalena Kind and Marie Rose Kahane, followed by Ceremony, the first solo exhibition of Alexander Kirkeby, a young Danish glassblower and designer awarded a Special Mention at The Venice Glass Week 2024.
Subsequent projects include Microcosmo, a collection of glass jewellery developed through the collaboration between Suri and Simone Crestani, and Weaving: Between Land and Sea by American basket-maker Deborah Needleman. Most recently, CASA YALI presented the first solo exhibition of Geraldina Bassani Antivari as part of The Venice Glass Week 2025.
In 2026, the programme will continue with the first solo exhibitions in Venice of Paola Petrobelli and Amy Revier.
SIEGFRIED CONTEMPORARY
Siegfried Contemporary Art & Design Salon was founded by Andreas Siegfried in 2010. It is a platform for discovering new talent, championing international artists and designers through private exhibitions held both in the salon in London and in Saanen, Switzerland. A gallerist, curator, art advisor and collector, Andreas Siegfried specialises in Modern and Contemporary Art and Design, working with established, emerging, and historic artists. He has shown artists including Rebecca Ackroyd, Alvaro Barrington, Heidi Bucher, Martin Creed, Sergej Jensen and Kaari Upson and has collaborated with designers like Anton Alvarez, Martino Gamper, Jonathan Trayte and Richard Woods.
CASA YALI
Ramo Malipiero 3079
San Marco
30124, Venice
Italy
Curator | Press enquiries
Marina Marques
+39 334 3933945