Viewing: New Work

Heike Brachlow, Anima, 2016. Cast opaline glass. H 15 3/4, W 17, D 12 1/4 in. photo: ester segarra

Thursday September 1, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

OPENING: Traver Gallery showcases two glass approaches in dual Thompson and Brachlow exhibits

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, New Work, Opening

For the month of September 2016, Traver Gallery is displaying new works by artists Heike Brachlow and Cappy Thompson. Aside from their shared use of color as a primary aspect of their work, they are otherwise strongly divergent in their approach to the material. This month's exhibition will see both artists exploring new techniques. Brachlow will showcase the latest works in her "D-Form Series" solid-glass sculptures whose forms were discovered through joining together two flat shapes with identical perimeter lengths. And Thompson will move beyond her prior body of vitreous enamel paintings to unveil a new series of transparent engraved vessels.

Michael Schunke, Mixed Goblet Arrangement courtesy: the artist

Wednesday August 31, 2016 | by Ana Donefer-Hickie

OPENING: Michael Schunke’s Vetri show is gallery’s first dedicated goblet exhibition in a decade

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, New Work, Opening

Opening Thursday, September 1st, and running through the 2nd of October, 2016, a new exhibition at Seattle's Vetri Gallery showcases Michael Schunke's solo goblets (as distinct from his ongoing Vetro Vero collaborative project with partner Josie Gluck). Entitled "Time Well Spent: A Show of Goblets," the exhibit features over 100 of the artist's exquisitely crafted goblets and represents the first time in over a decade that the gallery will devote its showroom solely to the art of goblet making, "Time Well Spent" demonstrates how far Schunke's capable hands take the form not just as remaking historic forms, but as a form of individual expression. Internationally known for his mastery of the material, West Grove, Pennsylvania-based Schunke is known both for his dedication to the practice of making and his sophisticated eye for contemporary design.

Judith Schaechter, The Life Ecstatic, 2016. Stained glass lightbox. H 31, W 29, D 4 in. courtesy: the artist

Tuesday August 30, 2016 | by Andrew Page

OPENING: A conversation with Judith Schaechter on her upcoming New York City exhibition

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Artist Interviews, Exhibition, New Work, Opening

Judith Schaechter, who employs the radiance of stained glass to present human figures arranged against lushly patterned color fields in poses of transcendence or anguish, will open a solo exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery in the Chelsea area of New York City on September 8th, 2016. Entitled "The Life Ecstatic" the exhibition does not present radical shifts in Schaechter's approach as did her previous exhibition "Dark Matter," which saw a foray into three-dimensional sculpture, or her preceding site-specific architectural installation at the Eastern State Penitentary in Philadelphia, where she installed her works in narrow prison-cell windows. Instead, the upcoming exhibition, which runs through October 15, 2016, represents a return to her career-long project of updating the Gothic tradition of stained glass to plumb the intersection of spiritual longing and psychological torment from a contemporary perspective. Evident in the latest work is how her meticulous craft and expanding ability to render complex narrative works continues evolving in her most intricate and nuanced works to date. The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet recently caught up with Schaechter for an email interview about her upcoming exhibition.

Not Vital's work, Moon, engages, refracts, and illuminates its site within the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. courtesy: yorkshire sculpture park

Saturday August 20, 2016 | by Ana Donefer-Hickie

Artist Not Vital uses glass and stainless steel to explore landscape at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, New Work

Despite a 45-year career spent creating pieces and installations around the world, it was only May 2016 that Swiss artist Not Vital opened his first U.K. exhibition. On view at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park through January 2, 2017, the large-scale solo show combines several new works designed specifically for the site with a collection of the artists's older pieces. Born in Sent, a small village in the Swiss Alps, Not Vital grew up in an isolated landscape. Since his childhood, however, he has travelled widely, producing and leaving site-specific installations in the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Patagonia. Both Not Vital's isolated upbringing and subsequent international career are reflected in the pre-occupation with landscape articulated in many of his works. Using glass and highly polished, chased stainless steel, the artist inexorably links his sculptures and paintings both to the Swiss landscapes that he occupied as a child, and the international landscape that he occupies as an artist.

Carrie Fertig, Film still from La Sireneuse picturing Fertig's glass instruments. Photo: Rob Page. Image courtesy: Carrie Fertig.

Thursday August 18, 2016 | by Ana Donefer-Hickie

Flameworker Carrie Fertig’s Torcher Chamber Arkestra to make second U.K. appearance in September

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Events, New Work, News

Reprising its 2012 performance at the International Festival of Glass in Stourbridge, England, the collaborative multi-media group Torcher Chamber Arkestra that combines flameworked glass, fire, and percussion-heavy musical performance is being brought back to England for another audience-interactive, glass-centric appearance. On September 2nd and 3rd, 2016, the Birmingham arts center known as mac birmingham will be filled with the sights, sounds, and spectacle that is an Arkestra performance in an event put on by Craftspace Curates, a craft-development organization that works "to push boundaries and perceptions of crafts practice, presentation and learning" through programmes of touring exhibitions, research, and participatory projects. "Pushing boundaries" is certainly something that the Arkestra, currently featuring artist Carrie Fertig, composer Alistair MacDonald, and percussionist Stu Brown, is intimately familiar with. Best described as an interdisciplinary collaborative performance group, the Arkestra defies traditional categorization by merging craft production, performance, and audience participation to create musical soundscapes produced through the manipulation of glass.

Monday August 15, 2016 | by Andrew Page

3 Questions for ... Leo Tecosky

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, New Work

Through September 4, 2016, Leo Tecosky’s exhibition entitled "Flithy Precision" will be on view at the galleries of Glass Wheel Studio in Norfolk, Virginia. Tecosky's work, which freely mixes glassblowing and neon, as well as found and constructed elements, incorporates inspiration from across cultures. His approach is an outgrowth of his interest in travel and wider study. Tecosky holds a BA from Alfred University with a cocentration in fine art, and an MFA from The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet recently checked in with Tecosky about his latest work and exhibition.

The top works will be exhibited at the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, with the top prize of 10,000-Euro also including a solo exhibition at this Denmark institution.

Sunday August 14, 2016 | by Andrew Page

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Once-a-decade museum competition anoints new talent, offers multiple prizes

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Call for Submissions, Museums, New Work

Since the inaugural “Young Glass” exhibition in 1987, the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark has held an international competitive exhibition of up-and-coming artists every 10 years. The fourth iteration of this juried exhibition, which includes a top award of a 2017 solo museum exhibition and a 10,000-Euro cash prize, is now accepting submissions. With a deadline of December 1, 2016, the competition is open to all students, artists, designers, and craftspeople using glass as a key element in their work. Because of the stated goal to identify new talent, there is a strict age limit. To apply, you must have been born after January 1, 1982, which will mean the finalists will not be over 35 when announced in 2017.

Benajmin Edols and Kathy Elliott, "Surge" series, 2015. Blown Glass, wheel carved. H 17, W 11 1/2, D 7 in. photo: ben townsend

Tuesday August 9, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

The collaborative career of Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott featured in museum exhibition in Japan

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, Museums, New Work

Benjamin Edols and Kathy Elliott have been creating polished, largely opaque, and intensely colored glass forms over a 24-year collaborative career. The full range of this prolific partnership is currently on view at the Toyama Glass Art Museum. Entitled “Light Marks,” and on exhibit through September 25, 2016, the show marks the first time their modestly-scaled, buoyant works have been shown in a full career retrospective. In addition to the 46 works that span the pair's history, four previously unseen examples from their latest "Deluge" series of more-transparent, meticulously carved vessels, are also included in this extensive exhibition.

John Kiley's Fractographs (2016) are shattered optical crystal blocks, 21 by 13 1/2 by 3 inches.

Wednesday August 3, 2016 | by Andrew Page

A conversation with John Kiley about his “big break”

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, New Work

From Cassandria Blackmore to Marta Klonowska to Yorgos Papadopoulos, there is no shortage of artists who use shattered glass as a central element of their work — but John Kiley, among the best glassblowers in the U.S., has taken a unique approach. Unlike the plate glass used by the previously cited artists, Kiley went for 3-inch thick blocks of optical crystal, which he shattered and then reconstructed, producing a stunning visual record of the violent encounter between a sledgehammer and glass. The aggressive fracture blooms into space like a ribbon of chaotic energy ripping through the serene frame of the thick optically pure crystal. Kiley's recent work already had an undertone of violence as he cut away sections of his exquisitely blown spheres to create architectonic constructions, but there was always a strong measure of restraint. In the newest work, in the painstaking reconstruction of the glass, the rigorous nature of Kiley's practice is preserved. But make no mistake: This work represents a literal and figurative break for the artist sought-after for his signature precision. The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet caught up with Kiley as he was preparing for the opening of his new exhibition "10,000 MPH" opening this evening at Traver Gallery (and running through August 27, 2016) to talk about this bold new direction. (Editor's note: See the video at end of this post for 360-degree views of the new works.)

Yves Hayat, Connected Bag (Femmes Au Bord de la Crisse de Guerre), 2014. Three-layer digital print on plexiglas. Edition of 3. H 39, W 39 in.

Thursday July 21, 2016 | by Ana Donefer-Hickie

In Paris exhibit, Yves Hayat utilizes material transparency to combine images of violence and luxury

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, New Work

On view until the 31st of July at Mark Hachem Gallery, multi-media artist Yves Hayat's most recent solo exhibition examines the complex relationship between contemporary politics and consumer culture. The exhibition is entitled "Sale Temps," which translates from French to "Bad Weather" and references the perfect storm of social, economic, religious, and cultural tensions that dominate the current international political climate and constitute the subject matter of the works in the exhibition.

Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, a glossy art magazine published four times a year by UrbanGlass has provided a critical context to the most important artwork being done in the medium of glass for more than 40 years.