Viewing:

Skyslide

Thursday July 7, 2016 | by Sarah Canny

CURIOSITIES: Slide 1,000 feet above Los Angeles latest architectural glass gimmick

FILED UNDER: Architecture, Curiosities, News

Following a top-floor renovation, The U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles has just opened a unique and tourist-friendly architectural feature called "The Skyslide," an unusual way to access the expansive new observation deck on the building's 69th floor (which can also be reached by elevator). More dramatic (and somewhat silly) is to slide down from the 70th floor, enjoying the sights via a glass chute 1,018-feet above ground. The transparency of glass heightens the views from highest public vantage point in Los Angles, and the tallest building west of the Mississippi. While a ride on an empty sack down to the outdoor observation deck is not the most elegant way to get there, the glass slide is a headline-seeking way to get publicity, at which it has been quite successful. The official website of the OUE Skyspace deck and Skyslide can be found here.

Ed Carpenter, Crocus, 2016. Stainless steel and laminated glass. H 852, W 240 in. photo: ed carpenter and deoa.

Wednesday July 6, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

Glass figures prominently into monumental new public artwork unveiled in Taiwan

FILED UNDER: Announcements, New Work, Opening, Public Art

A 72-foot-tall, 20-foot-wide public sculpture designed by architectural installation artist Ed Carpenter was unveiled in June 2016 in Taichung, Taiwan. Made from stainless steel and laminated glass, the sculpture stands at the intersection of two public parks outside of the Taichung City Council building.

Andy Paiko, Indefinite Sum #6, 2016. Blown, sculpted, etched, lacquered, mirrored, assembled glass, brass, leather. H 21, W 96, D 12 in. image: kenek photography, courtesy of wexler gallery.

Thursday June 30, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

Ornate assemblage artist Andy Paiko wins Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Award, News

Artist and designer Andy Paiko — known for his highly intricate, often kinetic, glass fabrications — has received a 2015 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award. The biennial juried award grants $20,000 to 30 artists to provide “the opportunity to produce new work, to push the boundaries of their creativity.” If Louis Comfort Tiffany's designs advanced glass lamps and jewelry as art, Andy Paiko has effectively been doing the reverse, provoking us to consider art glass objects as functioning, moving, active utilitarian devices. That very distinction between aesthetic and functional value seems to be a boundary that he seeks to erase.

Helen Lee's gold award-winning work KowTow.

Wednesday June 29, 2016 | by Andrew Page

Helen Lee takes top honors in Emerge 2016, a juried biennial exhibition organized by Bullseye Glass

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Award, Exhibition, News

Artist and educator (University of Wisconsin, Madison) Helen Lee took the gold prize at "Emerge 2016," the ninth biennial juried exhibition organized by Bullseye Glass. This year's field saw 370 entries, from which 42 finalists were selected by the jury made up of Bellevue Arts Museum curator Stefano Catalani, artist and educator Kim Harty (College of Creative Studies, Detroit), and Art in America contributing editor and educator (Portland State Universty) Sue Taylor. The competition drew submissions from 16 countries, and jurors were instructed to select work that best represented "creativity, craftsmanship, and design" in object-making using Bullseye Glass.

Arts In The Village Dedication Barrys2 2

Richard and Carolyn Barry have donated generously to both Old Dominion University and the Chrysler Museum of Art. courtesy: old dominion university

Tuesday June 28, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

Major Chrysler Museum benefactors donate private collection to nearby university in $35 million gift

FILED UNDER: Architecture, Exhibition, News

Prominent Norfolk, Virginia-area philanthropists Richard and Carolyn Barry, whose names adorn the Chrysler Museum of Art's glass curator position, have just announced that their art collection will be gifted to Old Dominion University in nearby Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Barrys' collection is part of a $35-million gift to the academic institution that is earmarked for the construction of a new museum building to house their collection— which includes over 100 sculptural objects from some of the most prominent Studio Glass artists such as Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, and Harvey Littleton.

Beth Lipman, Distill #13, 2015. Cast iron, enamel, chrome plating. H 12, W 7, D 6 in. photo: arts/industry program of the john michael kohler arts center and kohler co.

Thursday June 23, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

OPENING: Beth Lipman leaves glass behind in newest body of work

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, Opening

Of the thirteen new works Beth Lipman will unveil Saturday, June 25th, at an opening at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York City, none include the material of glass with which she made her career. Instead, the works in the exhibition entitled "Distill" are primarily cast iron. For this body of work, Lipman made dioramas by arranging ancient flora, such as conifer and ginkgo, alongside pieces of miniature furniture in cardboard boxes, which were then filled with molten iron. The result is a series of fossil-like tableaus, where seemingly ancient pieces of modern furniture are overtaken by organic matter.

Richard Royal's blown glass orbs. courtesy: schantz galleries

Thursday June 23, 2016 | by Sarah Canny

Annual outdoor contemporary sculpture exhibition turns focus to glass for the first time

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, New Work, News, Opening

When art dealer Jim Schantz was given the opportunity to curate the first all-glass exhibition at the annual contemporary and experimental sculpture show at the grounds of the historic Chesterwood, a Stockbridge, Massachussets, landmark, he saw an opportunity to push some of the leading glass artists he represents into new territory — environmental artwork. “It was an opportunity for them to realize their visions and perhaps work outside their comfort zone,” Schantz says in an email exchange with the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet. He reached out to artists Martin Blank, Peter Bremers, Nancy Callan, William Carlson, Daniel Clayman, Sidney Hutter, Richard Jolley, John Kiley, Thomas Patti, Kait Rhoads, Richard Royal, and Thomas Scoon, some of whom were well-acquainted with the challenges of exhibiting work outdoors, while others had never done so before. The result is the exhibiton "The Nature of Glass," which will remain on view through September 18, 2016.

Thursday June 23, 2016 | by Malcolm Morano

OPENING: Opulent Dale Chihuly installations take over at The Royal Ontario Museum

FILED UNDER: Architecture, Museums, Opening

Opening this Saturday, and on view for six months, the Royal Ontario Museum's "CHIHULY" exhibition features 11 installations by the most-famous artist working in glass. Among the works on display is the popular Persian Ceiling, which puts viewers underneath a glass-plate layered with Chihuly’s vividly colored Persian rondels. Also on view is Laguna Torcello, a vibrant, lagoon-inspired garden of glass objects. The artist has also created a new work specifically for the exhibition, Persian Trellis — an arbor adorned with Persian rondels, inviting viewers to not only walk under, but through the colorful light-gathering works.

Pavlina Cambalova was the 2015 artist in residence at Toyama.

Tuesday June 21, 2016 | by Sarah Canny

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Still time to apply for 6-week artist residency in Toyama, Japan

FILED UNDER: Call for Submissions, Education

The Toyama City Institute of Glass Art in Japan is accepting applications for its annual 6-week artist-in-residence program that will take place from October 20 through November 30, 2016. The application materials state the residency will go to a glass artist "who has potential to stimulate the glass art scene in Toyama by his/her works, regardless of age, gender and techniques he/she utilizes." The successful applicant will have access to a full suite of facilities to create his or her own work in a supportive and enthusiastic environment. The work made by the resident artist will receive a solo exhibition. Along with creating, the artist is expected to participate in lectures and demonstrations, and to interact and share his or her knowledge and experience with the many students and fellow artists on campus.

Sunday June 19, 2016 | by Andrew Page

Reporter shatters misconception of fragility on longest glass footbridge set to open in China

FILED UNDER: Architecture, Design, News, Video

It would take extraordinary strength to breach three sheets of glass laminated together with ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), yet high-profile structural applications, such as high-altitude footbridges in China, continue to awe the public who associate glass with fragility and a tendency to shatter. In an effort to dispell this unwarranted fear of walking on glass, a BBC reporter was invited to try to break a structural glass panel shortly before the opening of the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge, which is expected to open in July 2016 in Zhangjiajie, China.

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.