1976

In this time line I pull quotes to illustrate a thread in popular and scholarly writing and criticism about glass. Here we will see current glass artists defending their art against the accusations and separating themselves from these stereotypes and, hopefully, find out how and where the now-common opinion was born. Fundamentally, the general thesis seems to be born of the question, What Is Art? This question I will leave to others to answer, here I am only documenting the written history of a popular way of thinking and a popular taste.

1976 Glass Art Magazine:Glass Art Magazine. Volume 4, No. 3. 1976

Glass Art Magazine. "Jimmy Carter lusts after glass donkey." Volume 4, number 4. 1976.

1976 Fred Martin:

Robert Kehlmann: “Robert Kehlmann distributes his material on the diagonal, and makes his pictures of line and area, like greatly expanded scribble sketches. That they do not integrate the format makes them small random cutouts from a larger work; that they are not the larger work itself makes them unimportant. That they are excellently made in glass, a medium which requires every care for every part, makes all the time and material even more sad a waste.”

“Among the other artists in this show, Narcissus Quagliata is a frenzied Romantic/Surrealist--and his book, as his work, strives to break beyond the limits. His works grasp at the preposterous and haul us into experiences beyond the picture, where mind does indeed become light: The Opal Dance after the Earthquake, androgynous, half womb and half phallus, made partly of flesh but mostly of bone….”

“When all the questions of form, content and medium are over, I think any medium is a parameter of the artist’s expression, but what is made of it is the result of the artist’s soul. (Soul is the detritus of experience burning in the flames of aspiration.) So, to rank these artists and pin on a board the squirming, human butterflies: Marioni is technically amusing but without ideas or experiences of any great value. Posner is the same, although he does make people giggle in a small way. Kehlmann proves that the drift of experience in a small scale may be less interesting than experience itself; he should make them room size. Barnett has a superb, clear vision of the luminosity of glass, the necessary pattern of lead and steel, and a green egg which will not be forgotten. Quagliata is becoming, I think, one of the driving, creative forces in the medium, expanding the physical parameters of stained glass to accommodate the spiritual expansion of his soul.”

“Six artists working with glass” Fred Martin Berkeley, December 4, 1976. Artweek, west coast, vol. 7, no 42. P. 4

1976 Artweek:

“George Jercich: Arnica, Glass Triton Museum, Santa Clara

“Working with blown glass in a sculptural manner, George Jercich creates combinations of brilliantly colored biomorphic shapes which convey a sense of movement and growth. His pieces, although measuring less than two feet in any direction have a monumentality, a quality that Jercich hopes to explore in future works intended for architectural settings.”

Artweek. May 15, 1976. vol 7. no 20. west coast. pg 6.

1976 Richard Ritter:"Family Portrait" Ritter, Richard. 1976, Penland, NC. Corning Museum of Glass. 76.4.15 Photo ABJ 2008.

1976 David Williard:

"Wall Hanging Sculpture" David Willard. 1976, Doylestown Pennsylvania. 76.4.31 @ Corning Museum of Art. ABJ photo, 2008.