Complementary Contrasts:
The Glass and Steel Sculptures of Albert Paley
Opus - 2000 (front cover)
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93.25 x 22 x 21� Formed and fabricated stainless steel, cast glass, bronze, copper
Fragment - 2001 (above)
42 x 16� Formed and fabricated steel and stainless steel, hot formed glass
Complementary Contrasts: The Glass and Steel Sculptures of Albert Paley Museum of Glass, Tacoma Washington September 9, 2017 - September 3, 2018 Complementary Contrasts: The Glass and Steel Sculptures of Albert Paley highlights the significance of glass in the body of work of celebrated sculptor Albert Paley. Though best known for his metal sculptures, Paley has incorporated glass in many commissions and exhibition works for over a decade. These sculptures demonstrate his commitment to innovation and a synthesis of many of the key elements that distinguish his oeuvre. Paley launched his career nearly fifty years ago as a jewelry maker. As his work became evermore elaborate and larger in scale, he transitioned to furniture and freestanding sculpture and, in the 1970s, delved into large, site-specific works that blurred the line between sculpture and architecture. Despite disparity in size, Paley’s collective artworks display a synergy of forms and philosophy, favoring natural curves and lines that defy the rigid materials from which they are made and harmonizing the animate and the staid. As a student at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia in the 1960s, Paley developed an interest in glass as an artistic medium and watched its evolution in the milieu of contemporary art. In 1998, Paley was invited to Pilchuck Glass School to collaborate with artist Dante Marioni and accepted the opportunity without hesitation. His experience utilizing fire to manipulate metal translated naturally into his glass design and allowed him to embrace the new material with ease. Since this initial introduction, Paley has collaborated with a number of glass artists and created over a hundred sculptures incorporating glass. Though glass and steel share similar properties under intense heat, it is the complementary characteristics of the final forms that appeal to Paley. “My work deals with a lot of contrast. Glass pairs beautifully with steel because it creates a dialogue of opposites. The contour, clarity, and color of glass—metal responds to that.” The first comprehensive exhibition to reflect on Paley’s glass and steel sculpture, Complementary Contrasts: The Glass and Steel Sculptures of Albert Paley, includes sculptures initiated during his residencies at Museum of Glass in collaboration with Martin Blank. These works serve as the foundation of the exhibition and are supported by additional pieces from the archive at Paley Studios. Works on paper illuminate Paley’s process of incorporating glass in his sculpture and collectively the artwork demonstrates a culmination of his talents as a multi-media sculptor. - Excerpt from the Museum of Glass Website
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Golden Sphere - 2016
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61 x 57 x 47� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
Horizontal Passage - 2012
18.75 x 46 x 34� Formed and fabricated stainless steel, hot formed glass
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Clear Arc - 2001
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29.5 x 20 x 17.5� Formed and fabricated steel, cast glass
Crescent - 2001
42 x 29.5 x 23� Steel, bronze, sand cast glass
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Glass and Steel Structure Sculpture Proposal - 2009 30.5 x 22.5� Red pencil and graphite on paper
Glass and Steel Sculpture Proposal - 2008 8
39 x 45 x 1.75� Red pencil and graphite on paper
Entrance Door Proposal - 2004 36.25 x 39 x 1.75� Red pencil and graphite on paper
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“My involvement with aesthetics has gone through various phases over the years. In this evolution the constant has always been my focus on personal awareness and perception. My investigation in form development centers on the exploration of material characteristics, related processes and technologies. In creating a work of art, besides my personal experience, my concern is how it emotionally and intellectually engages the viewer. Through the creative process I have developed a personal visual vocabulary fundamentally based in symbolism and metaphor which is implicit in my work.� - Albert Paley
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Cradled Nuance - 2015
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18.5 x 33 x 32� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
Arced Momentum - 2012
41.5 x 39.5 x 27� Formed and fabricated stainless steel, hot formed glass
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Odyssey, Council Bluffs B - 2010 14
139 x 42 x 36� Mild Steel
Odyssey, Council Bluffs A - 2010 139 x 73 x 36� Mild Steel
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Partial Arc - 2014
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28.5 x 40 x 26� Formed and fabricated steel, cast glass
Arc - 2010
21.5 x 31 x 22� Formed and fabricated steel and stainless steel, cast glass
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Hilo Print 26 - 2010
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48.25 x 35 x 2� Monoprint, ink on paper
Crimson Train - 2015
40.25 x 43.5 x 18� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
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Purple Wrap - 2015
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31 x 43 x 24.5� Formed and fabricated steel, cast glass
In 2014 Albert Paley was invited to be the inaugural artist of the Corning Museum of Glass/ Corning Incorporated Specialty Glass Residency Program in Corning, New York. During the year long residency, Albert explored furnace-working and casting of Corning Code 7056, a borosilicate glass that was engineered to bond tightly to a metal alloy called Kovar. Corning 7056 is used industrially in special electronic circuit packages that need the durability of the metal, and the transparency of glass, with a perfect, air-tight seal between the two.
San Jose 4 - 1999
41 x 29� Monoprint, ink on paper
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Divide - 2001
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26 x 76.5 x 20.5� Formed and fabricated steel, cast glass
Clear Cut - 2001
46.5 x 27 x 18� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
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Twice Removed - 2016
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44 x 38 x 23� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
Horizontal Composite - 2012
43.5 x 34 x 23� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
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Burning Bones 2015 Monoprint 58 - 2015 26
38 x 49.75� Monoprint, ink on paper
Odyssey, Council Bluffs C - 2010 138 x 69 x 36� Mild steel
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Crest - 2014
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37 x 18.5 x 11.5� Formed and fabricated steel, cast glass
Echo - 2014
30 x 43 x 20� Formed and fabricated steel and stainless steel, cast glass
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Odyssey, Council Bluffs D - 2010 30
100 x 63 x 36� Formed and fabricated mild steel
Hilo Print 1 - 2010
27.5 x 37.5� Monoprint, ink on paper
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Burning Bones Texas Monoprint 47 - 2012 50 x 38� Monoprint, ink on paper
Burning Bones Texas Monoprint 44 - 2012 32
38 x 50� Monoprint, ink on paper
Crystal - 2000
88 x 26� Formed and fabricated stainless steel, hot formed glass
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Circular Logic - 2016
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27.75 x 29 x 21� Corning Specialty Glass 7056, Kovar, Steel
Split Relationship - 2012
34.75 x 48 x 19� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
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Aggregate - ???? 36
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“My recent sculpture is my ongoing dialogue with the integration of metal and glass. These two seemingly dissimilar materials share a basic sensibility and form development - that of plasticity derived from heat. This dialogue I see as a sympathy of opposites where one form is diametrically opposed to the other thus creating a synergy through contrast. One of the formal concerns is that one material does not dominate the other but they work in tandem to resolve compositional demands. The aspect of organicity and gesture is fundamental.� - Albert Paley
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Offset - 2001
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47 x 17.25 x8.5� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass, bronze
Meniscus - 2001
43.5 x 60 x 24� Stainless steel, copper, glass
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Arced Containment - 2015
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55 x 45 x 28.5� Formed and fabricated steel, cast glass
Dual Comparison - 2016
45.75 x 34 x 26� Corning Specialty Glass 7056, Kovar, Steel
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“When one walks into an architectural space you feel the space, you respond to the space. Not physically but emotionally. Is it open? Is it expansive? Is it private? Is it intimate? All of those things. I’ve always tried to somehow symbolically, within the context of the forms involved, somehow give visual definition to what people are experiencing.” - Albert Paley Albert Paley has over 50 site specific works worldwide.
Embryonic Cluster - 2012
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46 x 37 x 24” Formed and fabricated steel, glass
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Altered Equation - 2012
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41 x 34 x 35.5� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
Stacked Progression - 2015
41 x 23 x 25� Formed and fabricated steel, hot formed glass
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Circular Reference - 2015
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23.75 x 28.5� Corning Specialty Glass 7056, Kovar, Steel
Burning Bones 43 - 2012 50 x 38� Monoprint, ink on paper
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Texas Monoprint 16 - 2012 34.5 x 53.5� Monoprint, ink on paper
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