OPENING: Jeff Zimmer’s political indictment at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show

Jeff Zimmer, We Were All Wrong (The Home of My Father), 2011. Multiple layers of enameled and sandblasted glass in lightbox. H 22, W 25, D 7 in. courtesy: the artist

Glass artist Jeff Zimmer calls his work “politically charged,” but not necessarily polemic. In his most recent series “Whitewash,” on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show from November 10th through the 13th, he explores the American tendency to gloss over past failures through his out-of-focus snowy landscapes. The solo show, his first in the U.S., is a part of the Craft Scotland delegation at the museum’s 35th annual Craft Show.

It is fitting, given his subject matter, that Zimmer is originally from Washington, D.C.. After studying at the Washington Glass School, he left the U.S. to study glass painting at the Edinburgh College of Art. It was there that he began layering his hand-painted and kiln-fired glass sheets in a light box to achieve a 3-D effect. Zimmer’s paintings are often eerie and look like holographic vintage photographs.

The work in the “Whitewash” series carries that sentiment. The series of seemingly deserted urban and rural scenes set in the U.S. and Scotland depict things that feel left behind or forgotten. The images are dense with snow and fog. Each painting shares the title We Were All Wrong, with parenthetical subtitles individual work. The global title is a direct quote from former weapons inspector David Kay’s testimony regarding the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They are differentiated by subtitles noted in brackets.

Since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 2005 Zimmer’s work has been selected for two British Glass Biennales in 2008 and 2010, and is work is currently on display at the European Museum of Modern Glass in Coburg, Germany, as part of the group exhibition “50 Years of British Studio Glass.”

Zimmer will be one of 25 artists traveling from Scotland to show during the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show in an effort coordinated by CraftScotland to offer wider exposure to its artists. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling (215) 684-7930, or at the door.

—Ruth Reader