ARTS&LIFE ART
EXPRESSIONS IN
Glass
Complementary exhibits are on view at the JCC’s Janice Charach Gallery. SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A
t least three glass artists new to showing their work in Michigan will be represented as two simultaneous exhibits are presented through May 18 by the Janice Charach Gallery at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. Adam Goldberg, of Ohio, will display a contemporary sculpture in the 4th Bi-Annual Michigan Regional Glass Exhibition, which spotlights some 50 Michigan and Ohio artists, including Albert Young, founder and owner of Michigan Hot Glass Workshop, and son Nolan Young as well as Andy Koupal, Herb Babcock and Lou Krueger. A complementary exhibit, SIP, in the upper gallery, which spotlights original approaches to functional and decorative glassware, has invited artists from more distant states to debut their projects. They include Alexander Rosenberg, of Pennsylvania, who often uses glass as a tool to observe the natural world, and Josh Bernbaum, of Vermont, who experiments with color. Curator of the main exhibit is Alli Hoag, glass artist and professor at Bowling Green State University, where she heads the glass program. SIP curator is glass artist
Ryan Thompson, supervisor of the Greenfield Village Glass Shop. “I’ll be showing a sculpture made out of steel and glass that’s called ‘Gnomon,” said Goldberg, who links the work to a public commission. “It’s made up of two triangles that are in balance. “The piece is a study for what has turned into a large installation that’s going in an Ohio park. It represents a 9-foot tall version functioning as a sundial and casting a shadow on a large scale.” During high school, Goldberg started experimenting with glass as a fun activity offered by the Toledo Museum of Art. Serious studies happened through a bachelor’s degree program at Bowling Green State University. At the suggestion of his grandfather, who made Toledo warehouse space available, Goldberg began offering his projects to the public while teaming up with other glass artists. “I like to make glass that anybody can interact with,” said Goldberg, who designs
Judaica for family and friends. “I like to think about the end user.” With a varied clientele, he has made large projects for business display. “I like to spend time in the garden, and I like to incorporate my ideas of gardening and landscape design into my sculptural work,” Goldberg said. “I’m drawn to glass because I like the team aspect [that we have].” Alexander Rosenberg, who divides his
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LEFT: Adam Goldberg’s “Gnomon.” TOP: Josh Bernbaum’s specialty drinking glasses. CENTER LEFT: A pair of black goblets by Josh Bernbaum. CENTER RIGHT: Alexander Rosenberg’s “looking glass,” a goblet-like object used to examine a distant landscape in miniature on the viewer’s desktop. RIGHT: Rosenberg’s piece, titled “orb,” comes from a design derived from a mechanical model of the solar system. APRIL 7 • 2022 47
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