2006 Sue Peters:
"William Traver Gallery 110 Union St. #200, 206-587-6501, www.travergallery.com. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 29.
Tobias Mohl & Dante Marioni
In a town where glass art is most everywhere, it must be hard for an artist working in the medium to stand out. In the current show at William Traver, two youngish (40s) artists spin the medium in fun and elegant directions without the exaggerations you sometimes see in such work. Instead, their work fuses modern stylings with classical technique and forms. Danish artist Tobias Mohl's rows of frosted glass bowls, slender egg sculptures (pictured), and large white plates fill the space of an entire room with a glowing elegance. He calls his collection "Woven in Glass" for the black and white "woven" textures he creates through elaborate threading. In "Zoom," one of his large plates, he demonstrates his intricate glass raking, filling the center of the plate with a frenzy of tiny lines and scribbles. A student of master glass artist Lino Tagliapietra, Mohl uses traditional Venetian technique to surprising and contemporary effect. With his subtle tints and fresh patterns, Mohl exhibits sophisticated control. His pieces don't scream, "Look at me!" like a flamboyant, swirling Chihuly. Instead they entice you to come closer . . . and closer. . . . In "Form Color Pattern," local artist Dante Marioni uses whimsical filigree to decorate his vivid urn and odd-shaped vessels. Made in collections of 12, the frosted matte blue series is particularly appealing. In more sober moments, like Mohl, Marioni also spins fantastic webs and patterns inside his Reticello vases. Though many of these pieces have been sold already, this show is still worth a visit. It's a good example of museum-quality artwork in a local gallery."
Peters, S. "Anti-Chihuly's." Seattle Weekly. October 18, 2006. website accessed July 1, 2009. http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-10-18/arts/anti-chihulys
In a town where glass art is most everywhere, it must be hard for an artist working in the medium to stand out. In the current show at William Traver, two youngish (40s) artists spin the medium in fun and elegant directions without the exaggerations you sometimes see in such work. Instead, their work fuses modern stylings with classical technique and forms. Danish artist Tobias Mohl's rows of frosted glass bowls, slender egg sculptures (pictured), and large white plates fill the space of an entire room with a glowing elegance. He calls his collection "Woven in Glass" for the black and white "woven" textures he creates through elaborate threading. In "Zoom," one of his large plates, he demonstrates his intricate glass raking, filling the center of the plate with a frenzy of tiny lines and scribbles. A student of master glass artist Lino Tagliapietra, Mohl uses traditional Venetian technique to surprising and contemporary effect. With his subtle tints and fresh patterns, Mohl exhibits sophisticated control. His pieces don't scream, "Look at me!" like a flamboyant, swirling Chihuly. Instead they entice you to come closer . . . and closer. . . . In "Form Color Pattern," local artist Dante Marioni uses whimsical filigree to decorate his vivid urn and odd-shaped vessels. Made in collections of 12, the frosted matte blue series is particularly appealing. In more sober moments, like Mohl, Marioni also spins fantastic webs and patterns inside his Reticello vases. Though many of these pieces have been sold already, this show is still worth a visit. It's a good example of museum-quality artwork in a local gallery."
Peters, S. "Anti-Chihuly's." Seattle Weekly. October 18, 2006. website accessed July 1, 2009. http://www.seattleweekly.com/2006-10-18/arts/anti-chihulys
2006 Brooke Fruchtman and Howard Fox:
"Interview with Howard Fox
THE HARD-EDGED UNIVERSE OF CONTEMPORARY GLASS
LACMA.org sits down with the co-curator of Glass: Material Matters, for the inside scoop on this first-of-its-kind exhibition.
Q: I know glass exhibitions are typically very popular. Why do you think that is and/or what is it about the material that people find compelling?A: Glass is so ubiquitous in our daily lives that we often don't even notice it right in front of us. When you look out of a window in your home or in the car, the glass that you depend on to keep you sheltered becomes virtually invisible, forgettable. When we look in the mirror, we are aware of looking at images of ourselves, not at the glass that forms the mirror. But, as the objects in this show reveal, glass can be one of the most exotic, multifarious, beautiful, and downright amazing of materials. In the hands of a virtuoso technician, and put at the service of an artistic imagination, glass can be made to do some incredible things.
Q: In what ways is this exhibition different than other glass exhibitions and why did you decide to break from tradition?Lynda Benglis (United States, born 1941), MI, 1984, glass, sandcast, powdered; ceramic oxides, metal inclusions, 12 1/2 x 17 x 16 in., gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, @ Lynda Benglis/VAGA, New York, Photo @ 2005 Museum Associates/LACMA, M.86.273.1
A: There have been many enthralling glass exhibitions in recent years, and just about every artist in this exhibition has been included in other glass surveys. But the fact is that until relatively recently, artists working in glass and those employing other mediums did not much explore one another's territory. For most of the modern period, the visual art world has had tacit prejudices—and sometimes highly articulated ones—against the decorative arts traditions that form the history of glass, often deriding glass as "artsy" and "craftsy." There are even a couple of artists in this exhibition who expressed reservations about being in a "glass show." At the same time, the decorative branch of contemporary art practice tends to regard its "fine art" counterparts as academic and elitist. But these distinctions and suspicions make so little sense in an art world that has moved on from discussions of "postmodern" and even "post-postmodern" to an engagement of art in all mediums, from traditional object making to interactive digital forms. Current artistic creativity is a boundless, pie-in-the-sky, unruly free-for-all, offering artists almost limitless choices. It seems pointless to continue to parse and classify contemporary artists working in glass into separate enclaves, when it is, in fact, their choice of medium that unites them. This show is the first that I am aware of to explore contemporary glass across a broad spectrum of artistic production that includes decorative art, sculpture, conceptual art, and even architecture—which we're representing in photographs and video in the exhibition galleries.
Q: Is there something, other than their choice of medium, that unifies these artists?Ivan Mareš (Czech Republic, born 1956), Haystack, 1996, kiln-cut glass, 21 x 45 x 8 in., collection of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, @ Ivan Mareš, photo courtesy of Heller Gallery, New York.
A: I'd say these artists evince a bold sense of venture and innovation in going about their work. Now you could probably say that about most artists; but the artists in this exhibition seem unusually willing to bend the rules and really establish distinct "signature" styles. Personally, I find many of the works somehow surprising. In looking at them I think, "Wow, I didn't know you could make glass do that. How did the artist come up with that idea?" But the artists are not just showing off their technical mastery. Their works are often highly expressive and reflect their ideas about art and about life. With my co-organizer, guest curator Sarah Nichols, we made our selections to reflect the rich conceptual range that informs contemporary glass art.
Q: What should visitors keep in mind when viewing Glass?Toots Zynsky (United States, born 1951), Chaos in Paradise, 1995, glass threads, fused, 8 x 16 x 8 in., collection of Dale and Doug Anderson, Palm Beach, FL, @ Toots Zynsky, photo @ 2005 Museum Associates/LACMA, by Peter Harholdt.
A: Glass can take so many physical forms—which is a major theme in the exhibition. An artist could use a pencil or a crayon or charcoal or paint to delineate almost any image imaginable, but the graphite or the crayon or the charcoal or the paint as substances are always going to look pretty much the same. In marked contrast, glass—the material itself—can assume an extraordinary range of physical properties and appearances. Glass can be blown into the most delicate hollow teardrops or globes, or it can be stretched into lithe arcing shapes; it can be spun into fibers like cotton candy to be used for insulation, or it can be made into ultra-thin strands and woven into drapery. It can be perfectly transparent, ravishingly hued, glowingly translucent, or opaque as steel. Glass can even offer load-bearing strength to support buildings. Today I heard about a material called Aerogel, which, being made of silica, is chemically very closely related to glass; it looks like foam or solidified smoke, but if you drop it, it shatters. It’s amazing that glass is so protean in its forms. Artists have known this for centuries.
Q: Are there any special challenges working with such fragile material?
A: For the museum? "Handle with Care" is certainly the order of the day; but in museums we handle all objects with extreme care every day. That's our mandate. The real challenge, however, is for the artists, not the museums. Even the most rugged cast glass objects that weigh hundreds of pounds can be extremely fragile: they have to be cooled very slowly, sometimes over a period of weeks, in special annealing ovens. If they cool too quickly, they can shatter, and you won't find this out until you actually open up the furnace. You can only hope for the best. Glass is terrifically fraught with technical challenges, and it really makes you appreciate technical mastery when you see it, as in the objects in this show.
Q: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned while curating this exhibition that you didn’t know prior?
A: Well Sarah Nichols, our guest curator (who recently retired as chief curator of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh) is a specialist in modern glass; I'm not. In fact, my initial involvement in the project was to serve as what is known in Hollywood as the "line producer"—that's the person who is in charge of the actual physical production, everything from making sure the set, the actors, the crew, the equipment is on-hand and ready for the director. I was asked to be the in-house project manager for this exhibition. But as I was squiring Sarah around to southern California glass collectors, I discovered that there is a whole universe of highly enthusiastic, deeply informed collectors out there. They're there in numbers, and they are passionate about glass and heavily networked locally, nationally, and internationally.
I felt that I had come upon a whole thrust of contemporary art that I simply hadn't paid much attention to before. I felt humbled, and I must say somewhat abashed, that a seasoned curator could discover a whole new area within the field. And what better way to learn about something than to immerse yourself in it? I asked Sarah how she felt about having a co-curator, and she was totally welcoming of it. Our divergent backgrounds—hers in decorative arts, mine more in conceptual art—inspired an open-mindedness to our pursuit, a willingness to walk around and explore one another's professional territory. You know what? We found out we had a lot more in common than we'd have thought. It was very refreshing. I hope—I trust—that our own spirit of eclectic inclusion and curiosity animates the show we put together.
Howard N. Fox is LACMA's curator of Contemporary Art.
This interview was conducted by At Lacma Editor Brooke Fruchtman.
Glass: Material Matters April 30–December 10, 2006
Glass: Material Matters was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and was made possible by Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser.
It was supported in part by the Glass Alliance of Los Angeles. Additional support was provided by Ruth C. Greenberg, Roberta and Melvin Olshansky, Cynthia and Jeffrey Manocherian, the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, Dale and Doug Anderson, Andy and Charles Bronfman, Salli and Bernie Harris, Ellie and Mark Lainer, and Dr. Susan Krevoy and Leo Spiwak."
Fruchtman, B. and Fox, H. "Interview with Howard Fox." Los Angeles County Museum of Art. LACMA website. accessed June 19, 2009. http://www.lacma.org/art/Behindthescenes1.aspx
2006 Seattle Art Blog:
"Art lovers who attended the 24th. annual Pratt Fine Arts Auction last weekend contributed $600,000 to the Pratt Institute community-based art education and studio access programs and got some great art in the bargain.
Highlights of the evening included the sale of a painted metal sculpture by local artist Larry Calkins which fetched six times fair market value with animated bidding escalating to $9,000. Two glass art aficionados paid $10,000 each for the opportunity to host parties featuring renowned glass artist Dante Marioni crafting globlets [sic] and vessels in Pratt studios.
According to Mimi Pierce, longtime Pratt Board Member and former Executive Director of the Pilchuck Glass School, In a city where auctions are a dime a dozen, Pratt Fine Art Center's auction was one in a million."
Tipton, Brenda. "Pratt rakes in $600,000." May 24, 2006. Seattle Art Blog. website accessed June 19, 2009. http://www.seattleartblog.com/home/Pratt-rakes-in-600-000.html
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