Thursday March 15, 2018 | by Allison Adler

An up-and-coming Boca Raton art fair features new work in glass at the display of Berengo Studio

FILED UNDER: Events

The third edition of the relatively new art fair Art Boca Raton is underway this evening and through the weekend with a mix of international and Florida galleries representing over 250 contemporary artists whose work hbas taken over the International Pavilion of the Palm Beaches at Florida Atlantic University. Representing the world of contemporary glass art is Berengo Studio 1989, the brainchild of Venetian art entrepreneur Adriano Berengo, who is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of glass art as part of the mission, according to Berengo Studio 1989’s website, to make glass art “beautiful, aesthetic and truly contemporary.”

Thursday March 15, 2018 | by Allison Adler

CONVERSATION: Clay artist Sharif Bey discusses his oversized necklace sculptures that incorporate glass

FILED UNDER: Exhibition

Artist Sharif Bey began our telephone conversation by describing an image he had seen of a young Berber girl in North Africa wearing a series of amber-beaded necklaces. Though beautiful, the necklaces “didn’t look comfortable,” he said; there was something precarious and heavy about them. Why wear them, then? “She’s wearing this for some reason,” Bey said, conveying the sense that these necklaces and the beads of which they are composed have power and resonance, something that allows them to be more than objects of personal adornment. The large-scale glass and clay necklaces currently on view at the Pittsburgh Glass Center exhibition entitled "Sharif Bey: Dialogues in Clay and Glass" are the products of Bey’s inquiry into this resonance -- something he creates through both size and the combination of particular materials -- as well as his interest in the symbolism of beads and their relationship to collective identity.

Artist Judith Schaecter will kick off the 2018 IFC with a lecture entitled "Mission Statement."

Wednesday March 14, 2018 | by Valerie Hughes

The 2018 International Flameworking Conference kicks off this weekend with a lecture by Judith Schaechter

The 18th annual International Flameworking Conference is headlined by Joe Peters, who started working with glass at a young age. A skilled flameworker with experience as a student and teacher at Snow Farm, a craft school in Massachusetts, Peters is known for his often psychedelic depictions of nature, with a particular emphasis on aquatic life. In 2012, he created an aquarium installation that is now on display at Boston Children’s Hospital. Peters is but one of a range of artists who work with glass appearing at this weekend's International Flameworking Conference (IFC), which will run from March 16-18 at Salem Community College. It is meant to highlight achievement in flameworking through artist demonstrations and other presentations.

Wilken Skurk's Home (2011) and one of Dafna Kaffeman's wolves as presented on the web page for "If I Had A Home" at lorch + seidel.

Tuesday March 13, 2018 | by Allison Adler

EXHIBITION: In Berlin, mixed-media glass works by Dafna Kaffeman and Wilken Skurk offer differing takes on a dangerous world

FILED UNDER: Exhibition

A new exhibition If I Had a Home, on view at Berlin's lorch + seidel contemporary through April 14th, juxtaposes what initially seem like widely different works by Dafna Kaffeman and Wilken Skurk. Kaffeman’s wolves, formed of spiky, flame-worked glass fixed to aluminum with silicone, adhere to the walls beside Wilken Skurk’s glass and bronze sculptures Home (2009), Nest (2007), and Tressor (2006). In general, both artists create works that are more than what they seem. What appears to be a simple portrait of a wolf or a sculpture that resembles an architectural model of a building actually contains layers of political and personal meaning. In bringing these two artists’ works together, lorch + seidel suggest that there is a conversation going on here, one that is related to the concept of home, and, perhaps, its stability. Upon closer examination of individual works, an even more-poignant contrast emerges between the two artists and their respective views on safety in an insecure environment.

courtesy: pittsburgh glass center.

Sunday March 11, 2018 | by Valerie Hughes

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Pittsburgh Glass Center debuts new $5,000 award in honor of late co-founder, Ron Desmett

FILED UNDER: Call for Submissions

The Pittsburgh Glass Center has announced itsfirst Ron Desmett Memorial Award for Imagination in Glass. Artists who take glass to innovative heights and take risks, in the vein of the late Desmett, are called to apply and can do so online by May 31, 2018. PGC will grant at least one award a year, consisting of $2,500 in cash along with classes and studio access valuing $2,500, for a total award value of $5,000. Awardees’ work will embody the innovative and rule-defying spirit of Desmett’s glass work.

Simone Crestani, Hommage À Acteon 2, 2017. Hollow sculpted blown borosilicate glass. H 47 ¼, W 31 ½ in.

Thursday March 8, 2018 | by Valerie Hughes

DESIGN: Exhibited at prestigious Munich lighting showroom, Simone Crestani's sculpted flameworked creations honor nature

Italian artist Simone Crestani spent 10 years as an apprentice to Massimo Lunardon before striking out on his own, employing the techniques he learned to sculpt at the torch. Crestani enjoys working inside the blown glass forms he flameworks to create complex and large-scale forms inspired by his wonder at the natural world, and humanity’s impact on it. Crestani's design pieces encapsulate both powerful and ephemeral qualities of nature. During the Munich Creative Business Week, an important design event in Germany, Simone Crestani is having a solo exhibition through April 24th taking place at the Ingo Maurer showroom in Munich at Kaiserstrasse 47.

Thursday March 8, 2018 | by Andrew Page

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The Spring 2018 edition of Glass (#150)

The Spring 2018 edition of Glass: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly (#150) has hit newsstands and subscriber mailboxes. The cover article is devoted to the work of Hiromi Takizawa, who has lived in the U.S. for 17 years but remains in close contact with her family and friends in her native Japan. Teaching full-time at Cal State Fullerton, she is overseeing a complete rebuild of the glass studio as she continues to explore the metaphorical concept of distance. Contributing editor Victoria Josslin cites Takizawa's 2010 dissertation title from her MFA studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, which was "Duality and Parallel Lives," as the artist's primary preoccupation which "she has continued to explore, expand, and deepen" in the eight years since completing her degree.

Saturday March 3, 2018 | by Valerie Hughes

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Deadline extended for Bellevue Museum of Art juried competition for Northwest artists with two $5,000 cash awards

The Bellevue Arts Museum has extended its deadline for its 2018 BAM Biennial, an exhibition that offers a carefully selected range of contemporary artwork in a chosen medium. There are two awards, each for $5,000 cash for the top selections. This year, the material is glass and the exhibition will be entitled "BAM! Glasstastic." The new deadline for artists, designers, and makers to apply is March 19, 2018. (Disclosure: Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly editor Andrew Page is one of the five jurors.) The exhibition is open to applicants based in the Pacific Northwest (defined as the following U.S. states and Canadian provinces: Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington). Those who wish to apply do not need to define themselves as glass artists, though their submitted work must use glass as a central component. Those looking to apply can submit applications through CaFÉ.

Left: Martin Janecky, La Reina. Glass. H 21, W 10 in. Photography by Russell Johnson. courtesy: heller gallery

Right: Martin Janecky, Arbol De La Vida. Glass. H 18, W 15 in. Photography by Russell Johnson. courtesy: heller gallery.

Thursday March 1, 2018 | by Valerie Hughes

OPENING: Martin Janecký unveils new Mexican-inspired works at Heller Gallery tonight

Czech artist Martin Janecký is known for his groundbreaking techniques of sculpting inside the bubble, creating highly realistic heads at life-sized scale by hot-working the glass on the pipe in innovative ways. Introduced to glass at the age of 13 by his father, Janecký’s unique approach to the material has made him a sought-after instructor. He's taught and exhibited at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State, at UrbanGlass (which publishes the Hot Sheet) in New York City, the Rietveld Academy in Holland, and many others. In the cover article of the Summer 2016 print edition (Glass #143), contributing editor John Drury discussed how Janecký was inspired by the head studies of Bavarian sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736-1783). In it, Drury notes Janecký’s “increasingly naturalistic direction.” Today, that naturalism continues in the Heller Gallery’s upcoming exhibition by Janecký entitled "Dia de Muertos." However, whereas his past works focused on human heads, his newest exhibition focuses on the human skull and its role in the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. The exhibition will run for the entirety of March and Janecký will be present for tonight's March 1, 2018 opening from 6 PM -8 PM. (Originally, the exhibit was meant to open in Mexico City in the fall of 2017 but it was cancelled due to last year’s earthquake.)

Gene Koss in action.

Wednesday February 28, 2018 | by Valerie Hughes

In New Orleans, sculptor and Tulane professor Gene Koss will give a rare demo this coming Friday

On Friday, March 2, 2018, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the YAYA Arts Center will host a glass demo by renowned glass artist and head of the Tulane glass program Gene Koss from 6 PM to 8 PM. In a telephone interview with the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet, Koss said he was eager to work with YAYA, a nonprofit organization he admires. His demo is part of his effort "to give back” to the glass community. During the Friday evening event, Koss says he will work on two sculptures with a team of seven, all of whom he appreciates greatly for their dedication. He always visits a space beforehand to see what equipment he should bring with him. Additionally, he will hang up drawings in the space so the audience will have a clearer image of what the finished project will look like. Koss is very excited for Friday’s demo and mentioned that it would be the 89th workshop of his career, which has spanned the last four decades.

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.