The website of American Craft Council has a preview of the April/May issue of American Craft Magazine. Editor-in-Chief Monica Moses interviews Tim Tate about “Glass Secessionism” and how artists are exploring and advancing the medium – a sure must-read! Check out the preview video trailer on American Craft’s youtube website – at the 2:00 mark – works by some familiar artists are featured. Online March 17 – on the newsstands March 25th.
Michigan’s Habatat Galleries presents a grand opening of the oldest and largest glass exhibition in the United States. Over 400 works of contemporary glass art will be on display opening April 26th at 8:00 pm.
Tim Tate
Located in Royal Oak, Michigan at Habatat Galleries, 2014 marks the 42nd year of this monumental event. The 100 Artists who participate are from over 23 different countries. This exhibition inspired April as Michigan Glass Month which for over 25 years offers 30 or more glass events held throughout the State.
Sean Hennessey
Three artists from the Washington Glass School – Sean Hennessey, Michael Janis and Tim Tate – are featured in this year’s exhibit.
HABATAT GALLERIES 4400 Fernlee Ave., Royal Oak, Michigan 4807 Click here to jump to pdf of gallery invite. Email: info@habatat.com www.habatat.com
Michael Janis
AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL BALTIMORE SHOW
Feb. 21-23 @ Baltimore Convention Center
A three-day celebration of all things handmade! This is the American Craft Council’s flagship show – a must-attend for craft lovers. More than 650 artists from across the country gather under one roof! Touch, feel, and explore high-quality American craft like you’ve never seen before. If you are going – make sure you check out Novie Trump’s ceramics at Booth 3508!
Novie Trump “The Evolution of Flight” Ceramic with pewter glaze, slipcast porcelain egg
SHOW DATES AND HOURS
Friday, Feb. 21: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 22: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 23: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
LOCATION:
The Baltimore Convention Center is at One West Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD.
ON-SITE ADMISSION:
$16 one-day pass; $30 three-day pass; FREE for American Craft Council members and children 12 and under. Join the ACC and get in free!
William Warmus – writer/critic/art curator/and Fellow of Corning Museum of Glass writes a response to some comments on the Facebook group page Glass Secessionism. William Warmus wrote extensively about the development and evolution of Studio Glass. In the interest of giving the comments a broader audience – we post below Mr Warmus’ text:
Forget and forgive?
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion on other [Facebook] forums about Glass Secessionism and its relationship to studio glass. We are not opposed to the conceptual or material thinking that is associated with studio glass, and we hold skill in high esteem.
Our concerns are different. We look for innovation and seek to engender a thoughtful ongoing dialog about glass. The artworld is full of cynicism and infighting. It can be brutal. We want to create a sheltered circle within that context.
I suspect that it is Glass Secessionism’s willingness to move forward while others fight the old battles that creates some uneasiness. The idea that it is OK to forget is still quite unorthodox. But to move ahead, we need to sometimes secede and forget. Try it, it is pretty liberating.
I apologize for making this a very long post, but here goes.
In 1992 I wrote an essay about the End of Studio Glass, and in 2012 I updated that essay. I am attaching a long excerpt below. My attraction to Glass Secessionism seems natural to me: after postulating the end of studio glass, why wouldn’t I find the dialog that Tim Tate proposed an appealing next step?
As I wrote in the 2012 essay: “Coexistence applies to history as well as the present: We need to find a way to allow the weight of history to coexist with the present, not as a burden…but as inspiration. And yes, by the way, it is also sometimes O.K. to forget!”
Long Excerpt from the essay:
Is it Over?
Published in Glass Quarterly, Summer 2012
The author of an article charting the “completion” of the Studio Glass Movement reappraises the state of glass art.
By William Warmus
“The End” appeared in the Fall 1995 issue of Glass, although essays targeting the same theme appeared in American, Australian and Japanese publications between 1992 and 1993. My argument was that by the early 1990s, the techniques and aesthetics of Studio Glass were essentially complete. Read those essays for the details.
I did not use the term then, but tabletop sculpture seems an apt description of the glass from that period, and I use it in praise: Studio artists (and not just in glass) reinvented small-scale sculpture suitable for display in urban apartments and suburban homes. The work was aesthetically innovative and lovely to look at, or at least engaging. And alongside the artists grew an enthusiastic community of collectors, dealers, museums and scholars. I also observed that Studio Glass is largely about technique and broadening the definition of the factory.
The essay attracted attention. For example, the artists who call themselves Yukanjali (Anjali Srinivasan and Yuka Otani) cited “The End?” as influencing their curatorial and artistic work, quoting: “Studio glass itself is not stagnant, it is complete.” They used the term “post-glass” to distinguish between the new glass and Studio Glass, and concluded that: “Glass is not an art” but rather “Glass is a material. An amazing and wondrous thing that inspires the human spirit to create. It cannot, by itself become passé, although perhaps human intent can be, and maybe that lack of breakthrough is what we are facing now.”
Advance to 2012, the 50th anniversary of Studio Glass. What happened, and where are we now? Certain masters of the field of tabletop sculpture have been clearly established, including Harvey Littleton, Dale Chihuly, Tom Patti, Richard Marquis, Dan Dailey, Toots Zynsky and others.
Although I stand behind my 1992–1995 essays that argued that Studio Glass was complete, my definition of Studio Glass has evolved slightly. It is: a focus on glass as a medium for art that respects past traditions while at times forgetting those traditions in order to innovate.
This definition references Harvey Littleton’s proposition in his 1971 book, Glassblowing: A Search for Form: “The method used by the contemporary artist is a constant probing and questioning of the standards of the past and the definitions of the present to find an opening for new form statements in the material and process. It is even said that this search is an end in itself. Although knowledge of chemistry or physics as they apply to glass will broaden the artist’s possibilities, it cannot create them. Tools can be made, furnaces and annealing ovens can be built cheaply. But it is through the insatiable, adventurous urge of the artist to discover the essence of glass that his own means of expression will emerge.”
The founding of Studio Glass in 1962 was a confrontation of one culture with another: art encountering industry. It matured during a time when no one style in art was dominant (the post-Pop Art era), and yet the prevailing styles of criticism were, and to a certain extent remain, highly skeptical of glass as an art medium. Ash, trash, and fecal matter are widely admired as art media. But glass? It’s kitsch. Or so some say.
This attitude makes me argue that the central problem confronting the art world since the end of the era of dominant styles has been one of coexistence. Can we overcome art world skepticism and isolationism? We have come to see skepticism as implicitly aligned with a search for truthfulness, but why? If anything, it is easy to be a skeptic, and far more difficult to find ways to coexist. And yet perhaps coexistence, in all realms of life and aesthetics, is the most profound (and interesting) challenge of this century. Coexistence applies to history as well as the present: We need to find a way to allow the weight of history to coexist with the present, not as a burden or a negative challenge, in the sense of that which must not be repeated (when in fact it is impossible to repeat history—just try!), but as inspiration. And yes, by the way, it is also sometimes O.K. to forget!
My beloved medium of glass seems unusually open to coexistence. Glassmakers are willing to appropriate other art media; to range from an extremely small scale to a large one; to show their work at galleries, craft shows, flea markets, on eBay; to bond with collectors; to go anywhere, anytime; to have outlandish parties dressed in glass fashions; to engage in “athletic” contests centered on the medium. Perhaps that is what irritates the rest of the art world, this kitschy embrace of all things—even a willing self-flagellation, seemingly forever and ever, over the art-or-craft question. And in the middle of this carnival are the curators, historians, editors and other “gatekeepers” who are trying to discern themes and detect quality….[excerpt ends]
We are as proud as all get out to announce that WGS alum Jeff Zimmer has just been selected for the 2014 Stephen Procter Fellowship.
The Stephen Procter Fellowship is awarded to an International Artist. It includes a residency at The Australian National University School of Art Glass Workshop and travel funds.
Jeff has advised that he will spend 8 weeks Down Under, primarily in Canberra, but also plans on traveling around a bit, researching, making work and absorbing and sharing as much as he can. As part of the project he will connect with The Projected Image Heritage of Australia and New Zealand project at the University.
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| Surprise! Jeff popped into the glass school for a visit this past January. |
Previous recipients include: Mark Zirpel, Matt Szosz, Mel George, and Amber Cowan. Congratulations Jeff!
Nun, Gobble, Hay, Shin! On November 28, 2013, Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah coincide for the first time ever – and for the last time for more than 70,000 years.
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Nun, Gobble, Hay, Shin! On November 28, 2013, Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah coincide for the first time ever – and for the last time for more than 70,000 years. – See more at: http://www.moderntribe.com/judaica/cool_jewish_t_shirts/thankgivukkah_shirts#sthash.ByW039Ej.dpuf
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| Grind, Jenny, Grind! |
In a recent post, we showed Jenny Lindstrom working on a new mixed media artwork – and that we’d post images of the completed work. Jenny’s work often mixes found objects with cast glass and aluminum elements.
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| Jennifer Lindstrom’s cast glass and mixed media sculpture in the 2011 WGS 10 Year anniversary exhibit at Longview Gallery. Photo: Pete Duvall. |
Jenny often creates cast glass sculpture forms that resemble houses and plays off the rough and smooth finishes. Below are some of the photos by photog James Calder of her newest work to be part of her portfolio of work submitted to Penland :
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| Detail of Jennifer Lindstrom’s cast glass house. Photo James Calder. |
While artists Tim Tate and Michael Janis getting their glass works ready for shipping to the huge Art fair “S.O.F.A. Chicago“, the other studio artists are busy working on new directions and projects.
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| Nancy Donnelly carefully cleans the plaster mold from her cast glass figure. |
Nancy Donnelly creates new cast glass figures using the lost wax process. She also is working in ceramics – we are hoping to see many new mixed media works soon!
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| Nancy’s desk always has fascinating elements in interesting compositions! |
Also in the studio is Jennifer Lindstrom, as she toils away at her mixed media sculpture. Jennifer is working on her work as she submits for a core fellowship at Penland School of Crafts.
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| Jenny (aka Slam Grier in DC Roller Girls). |
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| Jennifer grinds and polishes her cast glass house element. |
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The red cast glass swirls thru Jenny’s house like a fire. Her roof is on fire. |
We hope to publish some finished works of the artists once they are completed!
Emerge 2014, Bullseye Glass’ eighth international kiln-glass exhibition for emerging artists, is now accepting online applications. Students and intermediate-level artists and makers who are not represented by major galleries are encouraged to apply.
This biennial juried competition offers substantial prizes and representation in a full-color exhibition catalog. Artworks will be installed at Bullseye Gallery in Portland, where finalists will be recognized at a festive opening reception and awards ceremony. Selected award winners will be included in a national touring exhibition.
Jurors for Emerge 2014 are Kathleen Moles, Emily Nachison, and James Yood.
IMPORTANT DATES
December 6, 2013
Submission deadline
January 16, 2014
Finalists notified individually via email
April 8, 2014
Exhibition opens at Bullseye Gallery
April 12, 2014
Opening night reception and awards event at Bullseye Gallery
Click HERE for more info.
Want to know what is entailed in the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare?)
Gateway CDC will host a workshop on Thursday, October 24 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Location: 39th Street Gallery at 3901 Rhode Island Ave. (Second Floor 39th Street entrance) Brentwood, MD 20722
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Please join the Gateway CDC’s 39th Street Gallery and the Montgomery County Health Department for a workshop for artists and other underinsured in Prince George’s County.
