Ann Wolff's 2006 work entitled Domus I graces the cover of the winter edition.
The new issue of GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly hits newsstands and subscriber mailboxes this week. On the cover: A kiln-cast sculpture by Ann Wolff, one of the first European academy-trained artists to fully embrace the American Studio Glass model of total artistic independence. When Wolff decided to leave her establish post as a designer for the Swedish glasshouse Kosta Boda in 1978, she made one of many bold steps toward realizing her unique vision in the space and volume of weighty glass forms. The cover article by arts writer Martina Windels traces Wolff’s evolution from her spirited early drawings, to her work for Swedish glasshouses, to the influence of Stansilav Libensky and Jaroslova Brychtova, to her discovery of how to capture movement in mass through innovative compositional and technical discoveries.
Other feature articles include GLASS regular contributor Annie Buckley‘s take on John Leighton‘s engagement with Japanese aesthetics through work that brings together wood and glass with expert workmanship and rarefied results. Anticipating the 50th anniversary of Studio Glass, we look back on the influential writings on an emerging movement by New York Times critic Paul Hollister (1918-2004). Finally, GLASS editor Andrew Page covers the Cooper-Hewitt‘s major exhibition on the Viennese designs by Lobmeyr in an article heavily illustrated with images of some of the most thinly-blown glassware ever made. Included are comments by the American designer Ted Muehling who selected the work from a recent windfall acquisition of more than 160 pieces by the Cooper-Hewitt.
The issue is rounded out with reviews of a group exhibition at Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery, a Nancy Callan and Julia Ricketts collaboration at Traver’s Tacoma gallery, and a group exhibition at the Robert Lehman Gallery at UrbanGlass. Completing the issue is a Reflection essay by contributing editor James Yood on the new book by Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf that attempts to put Studio Glass into the larger contemporary craft landscape in their textbook on American Studio Craft.
Don’t miss out. To order this copy, or to subscribe, email us at subscribe@glassquarterly.com, visit us at www.glassquarterly.com, or call 718.625.3685, ext 222.