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This week
Urban Glass

Viewing:

Stalagmite Vases

Saturday July 26, 2014 | by Andrew Page

OPENING: Jim Loewer’s Asian-influenced bowls and vases featured in museum shop exhibit
FILED UNDER: Design, Exhibition, Museums, New Work, Opening
The Alternatives Museum Shop at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts will feature the intense colors of Jim Loewer's glass vessels in a special exhibition debuting July 31st and running through September 25th, 2014. Based in Philadelphia, Loewer was trained as a painter, but now devotes himself to flamerworked borosilicate glass vases and bowls based on forms influenced by Japanese vesselware. He is self-taught and appreciates slight irregularities in his work which adds to their character.

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Mushroomlamp
John Ditchfield, Organic Mushroom Lamp (from the "Unique Collection" series).

Friday July 25, 2014 | by Lindsay von Hagn

EXHIBITION: Contemporary Glass Society showcases Northern UK glass artists in “Glass in the Bank”
FILED UNDER: Announcements, Exhibition, New Work, News
The work of ten glass artists from the Northern United Kingdom is currently on display in “Glass in the Bank”, an exhibition housed in the Lytham Heritage Centre in Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire in England. The exhibition was organized by Northern Hub of The Contemporary Glass Society, an organization that aims to support both emerging and established artists working in glass and to promote contemporary glass within the scope of the greater art world. To this end, the CGS organizes exhibitions, publishes Glass Network magazine, and holds conferences and workshops.

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"Lightness of Being / New Work," 2012 Dennos Museum Center

Thursday July 24, 2014 | by Elena Tafone

OPENING: Howard Ben Tré museum exhibition in Tacoma debuts this September
FILED UNDER: Announcements, Exhibition, Museums, News, Opening
Howard Ben Tré, an artist who redefined the scale possible in glass sculpture with monumental glass totems often accented with metallic foil surfaces, will have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Glass, in Tacoma, Washington. Entitled “Lightness of Being,” the show opens September 14, and has been described as an indoor forest of vertical shapes, featuring towering sculptures cast in glass and bronze, some as much as 8-feet tall. The show seems to reprise work shown in 2012 at the Dennos Sculpture Center in Traverse City, Michigan.

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Kim Headshot
Kim Harty in a 2012 photograph.

Wednesday July 23, 2014 | by Andrew Page

College for Creative Studies names Kim Harty head of glass program
FILED UNDER: Announcements, Education, News
The College for Creative Studies in Detroit has announced the appointment of Kim Harty to head the private college's glass program. Harty, whose title will be assistant professor in the college's craft department, will take over from Herb Babcock, who had led the glass section since 1974 until his recent retirement. Harty will be leading the glass program starting with the fall semester 2014, and will be part of a new generation of glass artists assuming academic positions in college and university art programs. She holds an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago (2013) and a BFA from RISD (2006). Harty is currently a board member at the Glass Art Society and editor of the organization's GASNews publication. (Disclosure: Kim Harty is also the former managing editor of GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly.)

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Toby Fraley, one of the Pittsburgh Glass Center's artists in residence, will be displaying his work in this year's Biennial. photo: nathan shaulis

Tuesday July 22, 2014 | by Elena Tafone

Pittsburgh Glass Center gives glass a larger role in regional art biennial
FILED UNDER: New Work, News, Opening
Though not quite following the 2-year interval its name suggests (it was last held back in 2011), the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial is an exhibition and celebration of regional artwork, and, thanks to a new program at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, it also includes fresh expressions in glass thanks to the pairing of artists who don't work in glass with skilled glass makers. In the 20 years since the biennial exhibition was launched at the Center for the Arts, it has steadily grown to become the largest showcase of contemporary art in Western Pennsylvania, and has spread out to take place at several venues in the Pittsburgh area.

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Pyrex glass sculptures by Jane D'Arensbourg

Thursday July 17, 2014 | by Paulina Switniewska

OPENING: Jane D’Arensbourg’s borosilicate creations debuting in Manhattan retail space tonight
FILED UNDER: Announcements, Curiosities, Exhibition, News
Glass and jewelry artist Jane D’Arensbourg, known for her unique styles of wearable glass and multimedia art and sculpture, will be showcasing her work tonight at retail store and gallery “Project No. 8” at 38 Orchard Street, New York. D’Arensbourg possesses many items in her repertoire, including smaller sculptures, rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and other etceteras. The exhibition will commence at 6 PM, with refreshments provided by Fung Tu restaurant. 

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Camo
Claire Lieberman, Camo Frosted Sparkle Shooter, 2010. H 7 1/2, W 4 1/2, D 2 1/4 in. photo: ken kashian

Tuesday July 15, 2014 | by Elena Tafone

OPENING: Claire Lieberman brings her glass guns to Brooklyn art center
FILED UNDER: Exhibition, New Work, News, Opening
Located on Brooklyn’s Red Hook waterfront, the Hot Woods Art Center will host the opening reception for a duo exhibition on July 25, featuring the glass firearms of multimedia artist Claire Lieberman. Since 1999, Lieberman has explored and subverted the functionality of form with her “Ice Gun” series. The guns, like something from an 80s sci-fi flick, are meant to be cartoonish in their design. Over the years, they have only become less and less realistic, most lacking vital components, such as bullets and triggers, that would make the firearms functional. This “purely aesthetic” effect is enhanced by the glass from which these pieces are sculpted. While some are colored, creating an almost candy like appearance, the majority are clear, as if crafted from ice.   

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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.