AUCTION: UrbanGlass 2012 benefit to celebrate 35-year milestone in glass

Lino Tagliapietra, Seattle Sunset, 2008, 19"x10.75"x5.75" Blown Glass

To celebrate 35 years in glass, UrbanGlass is holding a benefit auction on Thursday, April 5. Now an established artist-access glass center and studio, UrbanGlass started in 1977 as an experimental glass workshop. The benefit auction appropriately titled “35 for 35” will include 35 auction lots—30 art lots including two commissions and five unique experiences such as a dinner with Lino Tagliapietra (personally prepared by the artist himself) and breakfast at Tiffany with a behind-the-scenes tour of the workshop where the jewels of Tiffany are created.

Art lots include glass pieces by artists Deborah Czeresko, Marlene Rose, Lino Tagliapietra,Toots Zynsky and more. The creative glass variety ranges from blown, to sand and kiln-casted to hot-sculpted, and the selection includes sculptures, figures and jewelry. According to UrbanGlass Development Officer Rachel Feinberg, most of the pieces included in the auction were donated by the artists themselves with two exceptions from galleries. One art lot of particular interest is a table ensemble for four including goblets, glasses, plates, bowls and centerpieces by glassblower and master of Venetian techniques William Gudenrath.

The commissioned lots include an installation of a Sydney Cash light sculpture and a blown glass photo transfer print based on Tracy Kirchmann‘s Memory Maginified. The light sculpture will be custom-made by the artist for a location in the home of the highest bidder. Glass vessels partially sandblasted and filled with water magnify the silkscreen images transferred to the back of the piece.The successful bidder may choose his or her own photographs adding a personal touch to the finished piece.

Another one of the experiences up for auction is an evening of food, cocktails and art for the highest bidder and nine guests in the downtown loft of Geoff Isles, board member of the Glass Art Society. Art dealers Katya and Douglas Heller will provide a private tour of Isles’s personal art collection. UrbanGlass Executive Director Dawn Bennett will prepare and serve an exotic Indian vegetarian feast.

Cocktails will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the live auction will begin at 8 p.m. Items can be previewed and tickets can be purchased online.To place absentee bids or to register to bid by phone, contact MF Productions at (212) 243-7300 or sarah@mfproductions.com. For more information visit urbanglass.org.

—Suzann Caputo

EDITOR’S NOTE: UrbanGlass is the publisher of GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly.