He became a well-known sculptor for his piece, “Lunchtime on top of the Skyscraper,” a life-size statue recreation of the iconic photograph capturing 11 men eating lunch on a steel beam hundreds of feet above New York City in 1932. After years of sculpting, he soon ventured into another part of the art world: hand-painted ceramics for swimming pools.
Combining his love of painting and ceramics, Sergio began working on private home and hotel pools where he strived to create massive murals with colorful swirling designs. Seeing his artwork below the surface of water gave new meaning to the beauty of art in his eyes. He realized from the beginning that the hand-painted tiles in the bottom of the pool would shape the water and by swimming in it you become a part of the art. Soon after finishing up his first pool, the demand for his artwork skyrocketed worldwide. His clientele included successful business people, celebrities, artists, and regular families that enjoy having a spectacular back yard.
His technique is a simple one, used by artists for thousands of years, it consists of melting down glass at solar temperatures on porcelain or ceramic tile, this is known as vitrification. Once the surface gets fired at an incredible 2000 fahrenheit degrees, it vitrifies into eternity. Furnari’s goal is to create something that will be remembered and enjoyed for the next few thousand years to come just like the Romans that built baths, swimming pools, and waterways that thousands of years later are still used in current Rome. By using that technique combined with the technology of today, Sergio’s Pool of Dreams, the largest hand-painted pool in the world, will become a wonder of the world.
Sergio Furnari’s designs are mainly made out of spirals swirling through the murals. Spirals are usually found in nature, such as animals, plants, hurricanes, and the universe all of which inspired Mr. Furnari. Hearts and flowers will also be notably seen throughout the design as it represents Sergio’s love for life. He’s happy to bring joy into the hearts of those that get to experience his artwork first hand and wants to inspire everyone to have fun. All of the designs, colors, and shapes of the pools can be changed to the client’s personal taste. Some choose to have vibrant colors and very introget designs while others pick very natural earth palettes and soft/light simple designs. The result has always amazed Sergio to see a his clients bask in the beauty of his artwork. Everywhere he went from India to the United Arab Emirates, through Europe and the Americas, people have fallen in love with his artwork.
Many people ask, why the largest hand-painted pool in the world? He simply wants to be remembered for bringing happiness to the world. “I wake up everyday and whatever I do it with love, passion, enthusiasm, and positivity lead and inspired that a better world can be rebuilt, art equals peace, peace equals to love and love brings everyone to a better future.” – Sergio Furnari.
