Michèle Lapointe laureate of the 2018 Jean-Marie-Gauvreau Award

Thursday January 17, 2019 | by Ivana Pencheff

Quebec glass artist Michèle Lapointe wins $10,000 scholarship for installation that deploys blown glass for visual interaction

The artist behind the current installation Mettre la tête où l’on pense, on view in Montreal through March 16, 2019, Michèle Lapointe was presented with the 2018 Jean-Marie-Gauvreau Award in December. An annual award presented by the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec, the prize was created in 1976 in honor of the founder of the Salon des métiers d’art du Québec and is considered to be one of the most important distinctions of the fine-craft community of Québec. A professional craftsman must have at least 10 years of practice to be considered, and the winner receives a $10,000 scholarship for the success of a work created within the past five years. The work must stand out by it’s uniqueness, and Lapointe's work seems to have done so effectively.

Etsuko Ichikawa, Leaving a Legacy, Orb installation, 2017. Hot sculpted glass with uranium, installation. 40 x 42 x 42 in.

Tuesday January 15, 2019 | by Eve Aaron

EXHIBITION: Etsuko Ichikawa's "Vitrified" at Winston Wachter New York City

Through February 16th, the artist featured on the cover of Glass Quarterly's Fall 2018 edition (#152), Etsuko Ichikawa, is exhibiting at the Winston Wachter Gallery in New York City. Ichikawa was born in Tokyo and is based in Seattle. The title of the exhibition, "Vitrified, is also the title of the body of work itself. In this series as well as in much of her other work, Ichikawa is concerned with the "various impacts of human existence on our environment." What drove this particular body of work was the artist's shock at the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in her native Japan, which caused a mass amount of radioactive material to be released into the air. Based in Seattle, Ichikawa creates visual abstractions through glass that echo the frightening yet mesmerizing draw of chemical power, stirring up in her audience a complicated mix of fear and entrancement.

2018 06 15 Exhibitions Rebecca Louise Law Community Exhibition Photos Rob Wagner 37 Media

Rebecca Louise Law, Community, 2018. Installation. Courtesy the Toledo Museum of Art.

Friday January 11, 2019 | by Eve Aaron

INSTALLATION: British artist Rebecca Louise Law brings nature indoors at the Toledo Museum of Art, with plans for glass project to follow

British Artist, Rebecca Louise Law, has installed a work at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio that encapsulates the powerfully immersive experience of nature. "Painting in air," as the artist terms her technique, Law used 520,000 flowers from 10,000 different local plant species to create an immersive experience that echos being in the actual natural world. Law "pockets," as she puts it, organic forms and incorporates them into her work. Glass is not an aspect of the current installation, which is on view through January 13th, but a second project is planned that will encase Law's work in silica to preserve it and present it in new ways.

Ans Bakker, Zeeuws Licht no. 1, 2017. Glass blown in sand molds. 26 x 27 x 27 cm. courtesy: Johan Kole

Wednesday December 26, 2018 | by Eve Aaron

EXHIBITION: The Corning Museum announces artists selected for ambitious "New Glass Now" exhibition opening in 2019

The upcoming exhibition titled "New Glass Now" at The Corning Museum of Glass is the latest iteration of the annual emerging-artist exhibition-in-print that has been published annually since 1979, a showcase of the most important new work in glass from around the world. (Note: New Glass Review is distributed with the Summer edition of Glass Quarterly, and comes as a special bonus to subscribers) But the 2019 edition, number 40, will not only be the latest in the series. Next year, Corning curator Susie Silbert is lavishing extra attention on this annual event, expanding the juried publication into a museum exhibition, that has ambitions to update the landmark exhibitions "Glass 1959," and "New Glass: A Worldwide Survey," which followed in 1979.

photo: atsushi suzuki

Thursday December 20, 2018 | by Andrew Page

CONVERSATION: Artist Rui Sasaki, who's been interested in the concept of "the corner" since RISD, on her recent museum exhibition in Japan

Rui Sasaki's recent exhibition in Japan (a group exhibition at the 21st-Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa from October 30th through November 11th) was an exploration of the meaning of the Japanese term "Kogei," which can be roughly translated as "Craft" in English. It was no accident the setting was Kanazawa, a city that has been closely linked to "Kogei" since the 17th century. The city government has actively been promoting the association with this complex term, which is discussed at length in Japanese culture. The exhibition, entitled "Exploring the Possibilities of KOGEI x Architecture" sought to tease out some of the nuances of meaning of the "Kogei," and Sasaki was one of 14 artists, architects, designers, and philosophers asked to participate. The Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet recently caught up with Sasaki to ask her about her participation and impressions of the exhibition via an email exchange.

Artist/designer Luisa Restrepo in the studio.

Friday December 14, 2018 | by Eve Aaron

CONVERSATION: Mexico City-based artist-designer Luisa Restrepo discusses her upcycling design practice and her conceptual exploration of excess

Mexico City has always been a place of craft and in recent years that reputation has expanded as fine artists from everywhere flock to the city. Colombian glass artist, Luisa Restrepo works out of her studio "El Taller" in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, The Guerrero. Much of her work is made from reused glass that she "upcycles," totally transforming what we might call "waste" into high-end design and jewelry pieces. Last summer, Restrepo taught a class at Urban Glass called Shift, which was based upon this idea of the reusability of glass. Restrepo has been exploring ideas of excess and obesity in her more conceptual work, finding fascination in our changing reality as a reflection of the changing physical form.

Groundbreaking, Photo: Courtesy SCC

Wednesday December 12, 2018 | by Eve Aaron

Salem Community College in New Jersey building an expanded glass studio to accommodate growing interest in flameworking curriculum

Salem Community College in Carney Township, New Jersey, offers two glass-related associate's degrees - one in applied science for scientific-glass technology and another in fine arts. Both degree programs have proved so popular, with enrollment up by 220 percent and 115 percent respectively, that the institution is constructing a new, much-larger glass studio. The new building, named for the college's major benefactors Sam and Jean Jones, will include a 15,000-square-foot studio/lab as part of its 20,000-square-foot total area. The studio/lab space will be named in honor of the school's alumnus and internationally respected glass artist, Paul J. Stankard. The facility will replace the current Samuel H. Jones Education Center, which is located twelve miles from the campus in the town of Alloway.

Friday December 7, 2018 | by Ivana Pencheff

A multi-layered relationship between three prominent artists explored in an exhibition and artist talk on Saturday

"We're like three rocks on the same beach getting tossed around by the ocean together for 30 years - we can't help but round each other's edges"- Dick Weiss. Traver Gallery's ongoing exhibition"Old Friends, New Work," showcases the work of three artists who share a deep friendship: Charlie Parriott, Cappy Thompson, and Dick Weiss. Each artist has contributed independent work to be displayed together, revealing the relationships and influence they have had upon one another. In an email exchange with the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet, gallery owner Sarah Traver said that “This is the first time that we will have exhibited these three artists together.” She explained how each artist created individual bodies of work, not explicitly intended to explore their decades-long friendship, but with insights into their long-running affections for one another an inevitable byproduct. “They are displayed together in the gallery collectively so that those connections can be revealed and discovered organically,” said Traver.

A 2018 NASA photograph of a supernova.

Thursday December 6, 2018 | by Ivana Pencheff

Astronomers trace the source of the basic ingredient of glass to ancient supernovas that dusted the universe with silica

"Every time we gaze through a window, walk down the pavement, or set foot on a sandy beach, we are interacting with material made by exploding stars that burned millions of years ago," says Haley Gomez, a professor at Cardiff University's School of Physics and Astronomy.

The New Jersey Council of County Colleges recently presented the first statewide Community College Distinguished Alumnus Award to Salem Community College Alumnus Paul J. Stankard. From L to R: The association's president Aaron Fichtner, chair Helen Albright, honoree Paul Stankard, Salem Community College board chair Dorothy Hall, and Salem's President Michael Gorman.

Thursday November 29, 2018 | by Ivana Pencheff

AWARD: Artist Paul Stankard honored by academic association

Flameworker Paul Stankard was honored by the New Jersey Council of County Colleges in a November 16, 2018, ceremony. The award recognizes New Jersey community college graduates that have made honorable contributions to their respective professional fields. In a telephone interview with the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet, Stankard said that, "Salem Community College offered me a beautiful platform to stand on and build a career." He credits his 1961 enrollment in what was then named the Salem County Vocational Technical Institute’s scientific glassblowing program for instilling not only a strong technical foundation but also where he found an emotional connection to glass art. Interacting and sharing with other glassworkers is what he holds of most importance. "Sharing can be a two-way street. Interacting with young people and sharing my philosophy and process helps me articulate what is important to me," Stankard said.

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.