SLAG: anti-art glass, reviewed online

April 2010, Rhiannon Rinas:

"Glassy displays

Ladders made of forearms, organs strapped to carts, blood in glass bottles and cultural Mexican-American creations hang on the wall. A shed stands in the background, inviting observers to violate its boundaries and see the creepy inner workings.

"SLAG: The Anti-Art Glass," the current exhibit in the Prichard Art Gallery, encompasses a new world of glass, sending a message that glass is not only for cute little figurines. It features creations from artists across the U.S. and Mexico and has been in production for five years.

"The popular notion (is that) these beautiful vases, platters, forms that look like flowers or whatever," Rowley said. "But I had this other sense of glass being something very different than that. The more I sort of understood the overwhelming perception of what glass was, the more I wanted to do something that highlighted a different approach and sort of expands people's understandings about what glass art can be."

This exhibit displays a range between colorful and fragile to twisted designs. Rowley said glass exhibits are expensive to host, and most of the five years was spent trying to raise enough money to make it happen. The artists involved were supportive, and kept going until they had the required amount of money. Rowley said this is about the most expensive exhibit the Prichard has ever done, but that he thought it was pretty amazing.

"The range between the de la Torre brothers is just kind of bright and colorful, and that sort of idea of glass being bright and colorful," Rowley said. "But then just put into these sculptural pieces that are just over the top in terms of their references to Mexican-American culture, Aztec-Olmec culture, Catholic upbringing. All sorts of things just colliding together. Then Elizabeth Lyons.  That shed is, I think, on the one hand, it's kind of off-putting."

Visitors have to push open the chained door of the shed and stick their heads inside to see what's going on inside. Rowley said the point is to make viewers feel like they're violating a boundary.

"It's creepy, but cool," Rowley said. "Lyons has created a ladder rungs made up of human forearm cast. It just blows you away."

The Prichard displays nine to 11 exhibits during the year, each lasting seven to eight weeks. Occasionally there will be exhibits on display for a week, and they usually encompass new media and videos. The Prichard displays a variety of artwork from local artists, students and faculty from the College of Art and Architecture, graduate students, regional and international artists.

"Our mission is to bring the greater art world out there to Moscow," Rowley said. "We're the venue where you can see what's happening in contemporary art in the region."

Artists aren't required to pay to show their work in the gallery. There are prices for preparing the creations and the Prichard Art Gallery takes on as much of the expense of exhibiting as they can.

Rowley said anytime an artist has the opportunity to present artwork, it forces artists to deal with issues and grow as an artist. Prichard Art Gallery encourages more experimentation with art. The amount of time it takes for someone to go through the gallery varies. Some spend upward of 45 minutes, but most spent less than 30. The gallery is not demanding of every visitor to spend a certain amount of time viewing the exhibit.

"You can come in and if you find something that really engages you and you want to spend a leisurely hour looking, then you can do," Rowley said."

Rinas, R. "Expanding UI's vision." The University of Idaho Argonaut. April 5, 2010.  http://www.uiargonaut.com/content/view/10012/47:testset/

Subversion in Moscow, Idaho

February 2010 Becca Johnson:

"MOSCOW, Idaho – “SLAG: The Anti Art Glass,” the single most important exhibit in the University of Idaho's Prichard Art Gallery history, opens Wednesday, Feb. 24, and runs through April 10. SLAG has been created to expand perceptions of glass art.

"These groups of artists are equally diverse in their cultural backgrounds, geographic locations and artistic approach to glass," said Roger Rowley, director of the gallery. "They expand assumptions about glass art and blur the lines of artistic practice between media."

“Elegance of form and interplay with light are not the overriding theme in any of the art," said Rowley. "This isn’t to say there aren’t any elegant forms. Conversely, some of the artists actively subvert notions of beauty in their work.”

Each of the artists has a story to tell. Walter Zimmerman’s life experiences lead to questioning of one’s place. Marc Swanson’s concern with the natural world can be seen in his work. Elizabeth Lyons translates her experiences of work and construction through feminist ideals. Renée Stout approaches autobiography through make-belief characters and voodoo traditions. Einar and Jamex de la Torre channel the culture of the Mexican-American borderlands including Mesoamerican iconography.

“In the end, the diversity of the backgrounds of the artists in SLAG is readily apparent,” Rowley said. “The SLAG artists are largely from the margins of the dominant American culture and inhabit the margins of the glass art tradition. This enlivens the exhibit with numerous avenues to look at their work.”

This is where artists dealing with different social issues use representation like the grotesque to enrich what glass art can be.

“There is beauty but there is something else as well, each in its own way exquisite,” Rowley said.

[...] The Gallery recently received $7,000 from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation in New Mexico to support this exhibit. [...] "

Johnson, B. "“SLAG: The Anti Art Glass Exhibit” Opens Feb. 24 at the Prichard Art Gallery." University of Idaho News and Events online. February 12, 2010. Accessed March 5, 2010. http://www.uidaho.edu/newsevents/item?name=slag-the-anti-art-glass-exhibit-opens-feb-24-at-the-prichard-art-gallery

2009 NEA Visual Arts Grants

Access to Artistic Excellence Awards:

"Pilchuck Glass School (aka Pilchuck)
Seattle, WA
$10,000
To support a summer artist residency program. Up to ten artists will be provided with resources, facilities, and technical assistance to experiment with new work in glass.

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Inc. (aka WheatonArts) (on behalf of Creative Glass Center of America)
Millville, NJ
$20,000
To support a residency program for emerging and mid-career glass artists at the Creative Glass Center of America. Artists will be provided with housing, a stipend, studio facilities, and technical assistance to work in glass."

National Endowment for the Arts FY 2009 Visual Arts Grants. Website Accessed June 19, 2009. http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/disciplines/Visualarts/09visual.php?CAT=Access%20to%20Artistic%20Excellence&DIS=Visual%20Arts&TABLE=1

"Glass Art Society, Inc.

Seattle, WA
$20,000
CATEGORY: Access to Artistic Excellence FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Visual Arts
To support the 39th annual conference. To be held in Corning, New York, the conference will include a series of exhibitions, lectures, panels, and workshop demonstrations.

Museum of Glass
Tacoma, WA
$64,000
CATEGORY: Learning in the Arts FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Learning in the Arts
To support Science of Art, a visual arts education program that encourage students to recognize the intersection between scientific exploration and the creative process. Students will identify and apply the processes of observation, rigorous experimentation and problem-solving, and visual literacy in the creation of glass art."

http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/09grants/states2/09_states2.php?STATE=WA

"Chrysler Museum of Art
Norfolk, VA
$40,000
To support the exhibition Art of Glass II, with accompanying education programs, including glass blowing demonstrations, seminars, and workshops. The project is a region-wide celebration of contemporary art glass."

http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/09grants/09AAE.php?CAT=Access&DIS=Museum

"University of Idaho (on behalf of Prichard Art Gallery)
Moscow, ID
To support the exhibit SLAG, The Anti Art Glass, which will explore the use of glass in non-traditional forms. Guests artists will include Elizabeth Lyons, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Jaume Plensa, Renee Stout, and Walter Zimmerman.

Knoxville Museum of Art
Knoxville, TN
To support the exhibition Josh Simpson: A Visionary Journey in Glass. In addition to presenting a public gallery talk, Simpson will discuss his work with low-income students of Beaumont Elementary Magnet Honors Academy."

http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/09grants/09cham.php?disc=Challenge%20America

"Pittsburgh Glass Center, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA
$10,000
To support an artist residency program. Artists will be provided with resources, facilities, and technical assistance for exploration in glass making."

http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/09grants/09AAE2.php?CAT=Access&DIS=Visual%20Arts