L-R: The Divided States of America; Trish Kent, Le Singe; Patricia de Poel Wilberg, Rejoice O Windup Bird; Kate Barfield, Twisting, John Henderson
Get ready to experience an artistic revolution and discover the future of sculpture. The Montpelier Arts Center of the M-NCPPC, Department of Parks and Recreation in Prince George’s County, proudly presents its 43rd annual invitational sculpture exhibition. Curated by Howard Cohen, this show, titled “Connections and Conversations” features the visionary talents of artists of the Washington Glass School, with a spotlight on the transformative medium of glass, where boundaries are pushed and traditions redefined.
Echoes; Michael Janis
Join us to see how these remarkable artists illuminate the diverse worlds we live in, using glass to spark conversations and create profound connections. This isn’t just an exhibit—it’s a vibrant conversation about our diverse world. Don’t miss this chance to see how glass can tell stories, bridge gaps, and ignite inspiration through community engagement and artistic innovation.
Don’t miss this chance for an unforgettable journey through art, innovation, and community and discover the endless possibilities of glass as a medium.
Connections and Conversations: Works by Artists from the Washington Glass School
Exhibition Dates: June 7 – July 28, 2024
Public Reception: June 7, 2024, 7 – 9 PM
Lunch and Lecture: June 14, 2024, 12 Noon (Reservations Required – Call 301-377-7800)
Washington Glass School Co Founder Erwin Timmers outlines the Studio Glass Movement timeline to audience at Artomatic 2024.
In the 1960s, The American Studio Glass movement transformed glass from craft into fine art.
Artomatic helped create the movement, as after the 2000 Artomatic, the Smithsonian Museum acquired artist Tim Tate’s glass sculpture that was on display. Artist Erwin Timmers’ artwork was also on exhibit at that Artomatic, and after that show, the two began to collaborate, later teaming up to start the Washington Glass School & Studio with the funds from the sale of Tate’s glass artwork to the Renwick.
Washington Glass School Co-Founder Tim Tate’s work at Artomatic 2024.
In 2008, Artomatic organized an exhibit at the Washington Glass School, showcasing the unique approaches to glass sculpture in three “glass” cities: Washington, DC; Toledo, Ohio; and Sunderland, England, fostering international partnerships and collaborative ventures.
Glass works by VA-based artist Griffon Dillon on exhibit at Artomatic 2024.
As the 21st century unfolded, artists across various media have shown growing interest in glass as a creative medium, despite its technical challenges. The Washington Glass Scene has emerged as a hub of innovation, elevating glass to a significant position in contemporary art. The Washington Glass School encourages artists to push boundaries and redefine the possibilities of glass as a fine art medium.
There is a great example of works by DC glass creatives on display at Artomatic 2024, open now thru April 28th. Although the glass works are on many of the 8 floors of art, the 5th floor is the central spot to get ones glass fix. Some photos of Washington Glass School’s reception are featured in this post.
Glass artwork by artist Michael Janis seen at Artomatic 2024 on M Street.
Curator Howard Cohen reviewing glass art on exhibit at Artomatic 2024.
Baltimore based art curator Howard Cohen came this past weekend to Artomatic to handpick glass artists from the DC area for a contemporary glass showcase exhibit at Montpelier Art Center this June. Howard was able to talk with many of the artists and get insight to their narratives and process. Looking forward to the upcoming show!
Washington Glass School artists are prepping spectacular glass/mixed media artwork to be presented at Context Art Miami – at Alida Anderson Art Projects . New art works by WGS artists Michael Janis, Christina Helowicz, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, along with artworks by Lenny Campello, Tony Porto, J Jordan Bruns and Steve Wanna, Marinela de la Hoz and others will be on exhibit at CONTEXT Art Miami Art Fair, space A29.
CONTEXT Art Miami, presented by Art Miami, continues to create and push boundaries on the conversation about contemporary art, The 2022 edition will showcase works from 75 innovative galleries from more than 20 countries, including Japan, Turkey, Australia, France, South Korea and Chile, among others. CONTEXT Art Miami will kick-off during Miami Art Week with an invitation-only VIP preview on Tuesday, November 29 and run through Sunday, December 4, 2022.
“There’s A Big Hole In The Sky” – Collaborative sculpture by Tim Tate, Michael Janis, and Chris Shea.
The Venice Biennale is an international art exhibition featuring architecture, visual arts, cinema, dance, music, and theatre that is held in the Castello district of Venice, Italy every two years during the summer. This year’s Venice Biennale includes a collateral event – ‘Glasstress’ – held at the historic Berengo Studios in Murano, Italy.
The 59th International Art Exhibition features a sculptural collaboration between DC glass artists Tim Tate, Michael Janis and Brandywine metal sculptor Chris Shea, representing the USA.
Detail of Tate,Janis,Shea artwork showing cast glass and metalwork .
Chris Shea’s incredible metal work frames out Tim Tate’s lush fields of cast glass elements (detailed figures, flowers, insects) and in center, a glass sgraffito panel by Michael Janis.
A central concern in “There’s a Big Hole in The Sky” is that viewers need to abandon their apathy towards climate change. This monumental sculpture brings to light the effects of global warming on the earth as most areas will be facing frequent flooding. Despite the growing evidence of climate change, and humanity as the driver of that change, there remains a hardcore 20 percent or so that reject the whole notion of it and a healthy percentage that remain unconvinced that humans are causing it. And on top of those dismal statistics, many believe that climate change does not represent a threat to them. The artwork is an invitation to understand, to act, and to prepare. But if political solutions to climate change don’t materialize soon, it may also be an invitation to come to terms with loss.
Image of installation at Berengo Studios in Murano, Italy.
From Biennale Press Release
GLASSTRESS 2022
2 JUNE – 27 NOVEMBER 2022
BERENGO ART SPACE FOUNDATION
Venice, 2022
At the same time as the 59th Venice Biennale, the seventh edition of GLASSTRESS, scheduled from June 2 to November 27, 2022, brings together a group of important contemporary artists from Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa and China in an ambitious exhibition that explores the infinite creative possibilities of glass.
The works will be housed in the Berengo Art Space Foundation in Murano, an old abandoned furnace transformed a few years ago into an evocative exhibition space. On display will be works by artists who have already collaborated and exhibited at GLASSTRESS with Berengo Studio, such as Ai Weiwei, Jimmie Durham, Tony Cragg, Monira Al Qadiri, Thomas Schütte, as well as first-time attendees Vanessa Beecroft, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Tim Tate, Paloma Varga Weisz and eL Seed, among others.
GLASSTRESS is a project by Adriano Berengo dedicated to promoting new connections between contemporary art and glass. Starting from its debut in 2009 as a side event of the Venice Biennale, over the years GLASSTRESS has made dozens of internationally renowned artists and designers passionate about the traditional craft of Murano glass blowing, who have tried their hand at creating suggestive and innovative works in glass with the support of the masters of Berengo Studio.
GLASSTRESS 2022 – ARTISTS
NEW ARTISTS
Vanessa Beecroft (Italy), María Magdalena Campos-Pons (Cuba), Judy Chicago (United States), Chiara Dynys (Italy), eL Seed (France), Leandro Erlich (Argentina), Ryan Gander (Great Britain), Michael Janis (United States), Alexander Evgenievich Ponomarev (Russia), Laurent Reypens (Belgium), Liam Scully (Great Britain), Chris Shea (United States), Paloma Varga Weisz (Germany), Osman Yousefzada (Great Britain).
RETURNING ARTISTS
Ai Weiwei (China), Monira Al Qadiri (Kuwait), Ayman Baalbaki (Lebanon), Tony Cragg (Great Britain), Jimmie Durham (United States), Jan Fabre (Belgium), Josepha Gasch-Muche (Germany), Kendell Geers ( South Africa), Marya Kazoun (Lebanon / Canada), Brigitte Kowanz (Austria), Karen LaMonte (United States), Tomáš Libertiny (Slovak Republic), Massimo Lunardon (Italy), Federica Marangoni (Italy), Prune Nourry (France), Anne Peabody (United States), Jaume Plensa (Spain), Laure Prouvost (France), Thomas Schütte (Germany), Sean Scully (United States), Wael Shawky (Egypt), Lino Tagliapietra (Italy), Tim Tate (United States) , Koen Vanmechelen (Belgium), Robert Wilson (United States), Rose Wylie (Great Britain), Erwin Wurm (Austria).
Artworks by : Dr Joyce Scott, Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Soledad Salamé & more!
2022 is the International Year of Glass (IYOG) AND the 60th Anniversary of American Studio Glass Movement. As part of the events celebrating glass, Howard Cohen of Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass has organized a spectacular exhibit of glass artwork during the Glass & Optical Materials Division (GOMD) conference in Baltimore at Coppin State University. This will be the first glass exhibit in Baltimore since 1996! The goals of the show are to showcase ways glass has matured into a sculptural medium, bring a diverse group of renown artists from the Baltimore/Washington region to the arts communities, and students in the area, and amplify artists voices including members of the BIPOC, Hispanic, LGBQT and immigrant communities. The exhibit will feature artwork by Dr Joyce Scott, Tim Tate, Soledad Salamé, Erwin Timmers, and Michael Janis. The exhibition is made possible through the support of the GOMD, the American Ceramic Society, Corning & Owens Corning for funding some of the exhibition costs and to fund the Baltimore scientific outreach to Baltimore City High schools.
The exhibit is scheduled to run from Mid-May through June 2022.
WGS Co-Director Erwin Timmers is interviewed by Vicki Schneider in the hot-off-the-press issue of Glass Art Magazine. Erwin talks about his unique technique and if he shares his intellectual property or if he guards his glass secrets. Read his interview in the March/April issue of Glass Art Magazine. Photos by Pete Duvall.
This Friday, September 3rd, Michigan’s Habatat Galleries presents the opening of Glass Art Fair exhibition at 11:00 a.m. ET. This will be the VIP preview day for the online art fair as it opens to the public virtually the next day. This presentation includes many of available works that will be featured in the Habatat Galleries 50th in-person celebration.
Michael Janis’ kilncast glass is featured in Habatat Galleries 50th Anniversary exhibit.
Artists from around the world have been invited to this event and the gallery expects a large turnout since all have been apart for so long. During the pandemic Habatat has been pioneering the world of virtual glass art events including Glass49, GlassArtFair, the new annual Not Grandma’s Glass exhibition, and the highly apropos Viral Glass exhibition. Director Aaron Schey has created a treasure trove of digital presentations over the last year via Habatat Now programs which are viewable on YouTube.
Gallery founder Ferdinand Hampson shares his thoughts about Habatat’s Legacy: Founded in 1971, Habatat has promoted, legitimized, and elevated a new art material to a point of recognition by the art community. Fifty years later we evolved with glass. We continue our efforts towards the mainstream though we are no longer outsiders. Fine art collectors, museums, and noted art publications have in many cases recognized the medium and shared in the excitement of what this material can do and be, in the hands of creative artists worldwide.
Tim Tate and Michael Janis’ collaborative work – “The Poetry of Everyday Objects” is featured.
Public art created by artists of the Washington Glass Studio both enrich and celebrate diverse communities. Successful projects include – The Monumental Doors for the Library of Congress, Laurel Library, the Washington DC Gateway Arch, and the West Palm Beach International Airport.
Michael Janis and Erwin Timmers will discuss how they navigate the complex processes from finding the projects to their ultimate creation and installation.
On Tuesday, September 15, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, AACG starts their Online Education Series called “FIRED UP” – click on the link to register for the free event:
The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.
Joseph Ivacic is a Chicago based glass artist. Since receiving his BFA from the University of Illinois at Champaign, Urban, he has been showing in group and solo shows throughout the country. Joseph’s work challenges the viewer to see things differently, both from a subject and content point of view, as well as the fact that, while his work is made from glass, it certainly doesn’t look like traditional glass.
Joseph started using the moniker PARADIGM SHIFT to experiment with different themes in his art. “The narratives of these pieces are inspired by contemporary life, inviting the viewers to place themselves within the work. My compositions of faux installations are filled with text and imagery providing the viewer with subtle hints that the work is not what they perceive. Our modern day truths are what we say they are and our sense of reality is skewed based on our perspective.”
In 2018, Ferd Hampson of Habatat Galleries declared Joseph to be a “Top Ten Trend in Contemporary Glass” for his recent street inspired work – where all elements are glass, including the labels on the cans.
Washington Glass School blog catches up with Joseph as his work is part of the WGS Contemporary online exhibit “CLICK-IT!” and also in the “Artists For Racial Justice” exhibit/fundraiser.
Washington Glass School (WGS): Describe your artwork method/process.
Joseph Ivacic: I am a contemporary sculptor who uses glass as my primary medium. I combine a variety of techniques to create my groupings. The spray paint cans are blown and hot sculpted in the hot shop. Labels that are on the cans are Ceramic Decals and are applied to the glass cylinder prior to it being assembled hot. The elements that appear to be steel are created a by sifting powdered glass on to sheets of glass and then are slumped and fused at temperatures as high as 1450 degrees.
Joseph Ivacic, “Summit”; Glass; 12″x6″x4″
WGS: Describe your work in the show and highlight aspects that the viewers should understand about the work.
Joseph Ivacic: My work in these two shows vary and I am excited about both. The smaller pieces with the spray paint cans and the faux steel are continuations of my larger installations but are intended for newer collectors, people with small niches, or would like to own my work but it doesn’t work with there budget. This body of work is loaded with content and some of the topics are urban decay and the beauty in aging. I don’t want to share too much about the pieces because I want the viewer to come up with their own conclusion.
Joseph Ivacic, “Echoes”, Glass, wood, 14″x15″x29″, 2020. Featured in WGS Contemporary “Artists For Racial Justice” exhibit.
The piece in the Social Justice show titled “Echoes” is a narrative piece about protest and the long term benefits of standing up for your rights and beliefs. The Megaphone is made of glass and is assembled hot. The soap box is intended to look like a found object but I made that as well.
WGS: How have you handled the COVID-19 lockdown? How have you adapted?
Joseph Ivacic: The Covid lockdown has been tough. I really miss social interaction and engaging through a screen is not the same. I usually work at a public access glass studio for my blowing needs which has not been open to the public since the middle of march. During all of this craziness my family has also moved houses and I have moved studios. I am excited about my new studio, but it still has a long way to go before its operational. My creative outlets have been painting a working digitally on a tablet. I will be incorporating these new techniques in to the new pieces I am working on. As a glass artist, I feel we always need to adapt our vision with the properties of the material. As we evolve our relationship with glass, we understand what rules we can bend and what rules we can break.
WGS: What artwork/event has moved you and got you thinking about your own work?
Joseph Ivacic: During this time, I have been most moved by the social equality movement around the Black Lives Matter. I have spent a lot of time researching and trying to understand how be a better human and how to communicate this through my work. I think in the next year we are going to see a lot of art with this as the subject matter.
Joseph Ivacic checks out the street art as the street art checks out Joe.
WGS: if you were not an artist – what would you be?
Joseph Ivacic: I have a background in teaching and would probably work with high school students. I don’t know if it’s possible for me not to be an artist.
WGS: Do you do a lot of planning in your work – or is there an element of chance while working?
Joseph Ivacic: YES! My work requires tons of planning. I usually start with message and move to imagery from there. At that point in need to figure out scale and how to break the piece up into shippable pieces. Each of my panels needs to be fired at a minimum of 3 times and usually if something is going to break it will happen on the 3rd firing. Also anytime I want to incorporate a new color I need to do a sample with every other color I use to make sure that the new color expands and contracts at the same rate as the other colors. If the new color doesn’t the entire piece breaks.
Joseph Ivacic, “Propoganda Spray Can” 24″H; glass. The cans of spray paint draw parallels, positive and negative, between spray paint as art and as one of the oldest forms of social communication while layers of vibrant colors and text provoke further examination of the subtle details.
WGS: What is your rule of thumb in determining when a work is finished?
Joseph Ivacic: The rule of thumb on when the piece is finished… The piece is usually finished 2 days before the due date. :)
Joseph Ivacic at work in the hotshop.
Click HERE to jump to Joseph Ivacic’s work in CLICK-IT!
Works by Sean Donlon, Michael Janis, Jennifer Caldwell & Jason Chakravarty, Joseph Ivacic and Tim Tate.
Those who have yet to visit the exhibition should grab the chance to see these truly wonderful works online – click HERE to jump to online exhibit!
Works by Cheryl Derricotte, Sean Hennessey, Erwin Timmers, Jennifer Caldwell & Jason Chakravarty and Carmen Lozar.
“Artists For Racial Justice” exhibit and fundraising for non-profits that can help with equality with art as a tool for healing and peace to help at this time.
