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Penland executive director Jean McLaughlin has overseen the crafts school for nearly two decades. courtesy: penland school of crafts

Wednesday June 7, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

CONVERSATION: Jean McLaughlin to retire as executive director of Penland School of Crafts

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Education, News

After a dynamic career spanning nearly 20 years (19 and three-quarters to be exact), Jean McLaughlin will retire as executive director of the Penland School of Crafts in December 2017. She will leave behind an institution far stronger financially, more accessible to the physically challenged, and with greater outreach to the North Carolina rural communities which surround this important craft school. And yet the school McLaughlin came to lead remains recognizable to those who remember it before her tenure, a sense of continuity which she was careful to cultivate and preserve in this organization that dates back to 1929.

Doreen Garner, Big Pussy (From the Back), 2015. Glass, polyester fiber, Swarovski crystals and pearls, hair weave, teddy bear eyes, silicone, electrical parts, condoms, latex, acrylic, rubber, glitter, screws. H 16 W 23 D 16 in. photo: lindsay hargrave

Wednesday June 7, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

SEEN: Doreen Garner deploys glass as abstracted organs in inquiry into abusive medical research

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, Image Gallery, New Work, Seen

Doreen Garner's exhibition "Doctor's Hours," on view in New York City gallery through June 18, 2017, is an assemblage of drawings, video, and sculptural specimens that blend revulsion and attraction to provoke inquiry into atrocities inflicted on African American research subjects in the name of science. Most visceral is the response to the eerily intestinal yet abstract creations made from careful combinations of petroleum jelly-smeared glass, silicone, crystals, human hair, condoms and glitter, perched on shelves at nearly eye-level, spot-lit in the darkened pop-up gallery space on New York City's Lower East Side. Garner, who is often present in the gallery space, plays the role of both artist and surgeon as she invites her audience to become literally one with her art by receiving an actual tattoo, which she will administer either by appointment or for those inspired by their walk-in visit.

Amy Lemaire, History of the Present Moment, 2013-2017, Glass, mixed materials, Diameter 60 in. courtesy: the artist

Tuesday June 6, 2017 | by Sarah Thaw

OPENING: Amy Lemaire’s “History of the Present Moment” documents life in the age of Twitter

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, Glass Quarterly, Opening

Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Amy Lemaire explores themes of history as a form of currency in her upcoming exhibit, "History of the Present Moment." The exhibition, which will include glass sculptures seeking to ignite thought and conversation around modern historical documentation, will be on display from June 7 to June 28 in the Window Gallery at UrbanGlass’ Agnes Varis Art Center. (Disclosure: The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet is published by UrbanGlass.)

Cutclear Fraction, 2017. Blown and wheel cut glass. H 11, W 18, D 3 in. photo: russell johnson. courtesy: traver gallery

Wednesday May 31, 2017 | by Gabi Gimson

CONVERSATION: Seeking a certain clarity, Ethan Stern explores the aesthetics of cut crystal

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

Seattle-based glass artist Ethan Stern, whose work will be on view at Traver Gallery tomorrow as a part of a new exhibition titled "Cut Clear," is perhaps most well-known for his used of saturated gem-tones in high-contrast, semi-opaque engraved sculptures. This exhibition, however, marks the end of a slow-drifting departure from the chromatic intensity of his previous work. The work in the "Cut Clear" series employs similar forms and textures of Stern’s past work, but without the color that was so aesthetically integral. The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet spoke with Stern by phone to discuss the artist’s evolution and his unlikely recent source of inspiration — stylistically dated and aesthetically overwrought cut-crystal.

Tuesday May 30, 2017 | by Andrew Page

CURIOSITY: A new species of glass frog with translucent skin discovered in Ecuador

FILED UNDER: Curiosities, News

"Glass frog" is a term given to a group of South and Central American arboreal frogs distinguished by a uniquely translucent skin, with some having a practically transparent underside of the abdomen which allows a clear view of working internal organs. A newly discovered species of glass frog, Hyalinobatrachium yaku, has been identified in Ecuador, according to an article recently published in the journal ZooKeys. One of the special features of this newly discovered variant is an almost completely see-through belly, where the heart, stomach, and blood vessels are on vivid display, albeit covered in some kind of white coating.

Laura Kramer with Pyrophyllite (2015) at the opening reception of her Heller Gallery exhibition. photo: gabi gimson

Tuesday May 30, 2017 | by Gabi Gimson

CONVERSATION: Laura Kramer mines her archaeologist past in works unearthed from creative depths

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, New Work

On a deep-sea archaeological excavation in the Caribbean, designer and glass artist Laura Kramer discovered that she was perhaps too invested in the aesthetic form of each artifact. In the process of cleaning a find, Kramer labored assiduously over the excavated object almost as if each was an individual work of art rather than an objective relic of past civilizations. Her temptation to influence the aesthetic presentation of these pieces helped her decide not to continue her career as an archeologist.

Matthew Szösz, untitled (inflatable) no.73, 2017. H 12 1/2 W 7 D 8 in. Glass. courtesy: Wheaton Arts

Monday May 29, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

OPENING: Second “Emanation” at WheatonArts harnesses synergy between fabrication and concept

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Events, Exhibition, Museums, New Work, News, Opening

WheatonArts in Millville, New Jersey, is preparing to unveil its second “Emanation” exhibition during its long-running GlassWeekend event, a biennial gathering of collectors and artists to celebrate, discuss, buy and sell glass artwork coming up on June 9, 10 and 11, 2017. WheatonArts is a multi-dimensional nonprofit in Southern New Jersey, with programs ranging from a museum of American glass history to programming celebrating regional folk culture. But “Emanation,” initiated in 2015, is focused on the contemporary moment in art through an ambitious program to break down the barriers between fabricators and contemporary artists, something that other programs such as the high-profile Glasstress program by Berengo Studio in Venice don't directly address. Unlike that program, which brings well-known artists to Venice to have their ideas realized by glass masters, the "Emanation" project is based in the studios of WheatonArts' Creative Glass Center of America, best-known for its long-running fellowship program that allows artists free rein to realize experimental ideas at this unique facility. The New Jersey project is careful to avoid the one-way street of becoming a fabrication station. There are multiple efforts to create synergy between the artists and the facility, including during the installation of the exhibition component. The artists chosen for the second iteration of "Emanation" -- Emily Brown, Vanessa German, Michael Joo, Lorna Simpson, Therman Statom, Matthew Szösz, and the group Flock the Optic -- reveal varying levels of technical expertise working with glass, which creates interactions that cross-pollinate between artists approaching the project with different perspectives.

The exterior of Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle as pictured on its website.

Wednesday May 24, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

SCHOLARSHIP: Chihuly Garden and Glass offers $10,000 for Seattle-area emerging glass artist

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Call for Submissions, Education, News

In honor of its fifth anniversary, Chihuly Garden and Glass, the for-profit long-term Chihuly exhibition in Seattle Center, is offering a $10,000 scholarship for an emerging glass artist in the Seattle region to take classes at either Pilchuck Glass School or Pratt Fine Arts Center. The program is offered in conjunction with the Chihuly Studio. Though announced through Facebook and a press release, information on how to apply for this opportunity hasn't been easy to locate. The application is on the Garden and Glass website, but only under "Events," where it comes up at the bottom of an article about the organization's fifth-anniversary activities. Still, this is a generous opportunity, one of a series of initiatives to give back to the glass art community, and worthy of attention for every Seattle-area glass artist who fits the criteria.

The cover of the upcoming edition of New Glass Review features work by Thaddeus Wolfe.

Tuesday May 23, 2017 | by Andrew Page

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The Summer 2017 edition of GLASS (#147)

FILED UNDER: Announcements, New Work, News, Print Edition

The Summer 2017 edition of GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly (#147) is hitting newsstands and subscriber mailboxes next week. Once again, GLASS is partnering with The Corning Museum of Glass to distribute the latest edition of its annual exhibition-in-print, New Glass Review (#38), which is bundled with the summer issue of GLASS magazine at no extra charge to subscribers (newsstand copies carry an increased cover price for the special bonus issue). On the front of the new edition of GLASS is a striking work in neon and paint by celebrated American artist Glenn Ligon investigates issues of racial identity, American history, as well as the nature of language itself. The 2012 work Double America, features the word "America" shown twice, in white neon and inverted and painted black, creating a powerful graphic that challenges the nation's ideals and aspirations at a time when the country is so profoundly divided.

2016 TIGA Artist-in-Residence, Matthew Szösz, Ampere's Law. glass fiber. courtesy: artist website.

Tuesday May 23, 2017 | by Gabi Gimson

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Toyama, Japan, glass program’s artist-in-residence program open to applicants

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Call for Submissions

The Toyama City Institute of Glass Art (TIGA) is now accepting applications for its sought-after artist-in-residence program, set to take place October 19 to November 29, 2017. Each year, TIGA selects one artist of any glassmaking discipline to work and live for six weeks in Toyama, Japan, aptly dubbed “Glass Town”—a seaside city with a 400 year-old crafts tradition. TIGA’s artist-in-residence program was established in 2010 to invigorate the local community and promote Toyama’s rich cultural and arts heritage. Former artists-in-residence, selected from an international and diverse group of applicants, include Anna Mlasowsky (2011), Ethan Stern (2012), Ben Wright (2013), Pavlina Cambalova (2015), and Matthew Szösz (2016). The current faculty includes head professor Jin Hongo and associate professor Amy Rueffert.

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.