Holsten Galleries
12 in glass
Fall 2010 Catalog
Holsten Galleries Fall 2010 Catalog Photo: Sabine Vollmer Von Falken
T
he Holsten Galleries fall catalog, 12 in Glass, represents a cross section of works by twelve leading artists of contemporary glass. It comprises a wide variety of styles, techniques and aesthetics and could be considered a snapshot of the state of the art of glassmaking in the early 21st century.
Four of the artists in this catalog are almost legendary figures in the world of contemporary glass. I am honored to have represented all of these artists for at least 25 years. Not only are the names Chihuly, Lipofsky, Morris and Tagliapietra famous for their artistic and professional achievements (countless books, films, museum shows, etc.), they have also collectively been responsible for teaching or mentoring nearly every well-known glass blower in this country. Their generosity of spirit in sharing their extraordinary technical expertise and artistic vision with countless glass artists around the world is unparalleled in any other field of modern or contemporary art. Five of the artists here might be considered, for lack of a better term, as mid-career. David Bennett, JosÊ Chardiet, Dante Marioni, Stephen Powell and Preston Singletary are all firmly established in the firmament of glass luminaries. Most of these artists began their careers in glass in the 1980’s. Each has a long resume of exhibitions and publications and has work in many major private and public collections. Finally, I thought it important to feature works by three artists who, while somewhat newer to the field, have all established themselves solidly in the glass world.
12 in glass
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Alex Bernstein, Nancy Callan and John Kiley are already familiar names to many glass collectors. Each of them brings a unique and fresh vision to contemporary glass art. I hope you enjoy this catalog and invite you to view additional works by these artists and many others that I represent at my virtual gallery. Kenn Holsten Santa Fe, New Mexico October, 2010
David
Bennett
David Bennett works in the Seattle area and also lives part of the year in Carefree, AZ. He was a lawyer in the 70’s and 80’s and has been a professional glass artist since the early 1990’s. His figurative glass sculptures are created employing an ancient and little used technique which involves blowing glass into a metal mold. His larger figures are sometimes life-size and are lit from within with LED lighting. The four smaller pieces here are from the Whimsical Figures series.
Below Chandelier Trio 36” x 35” x 35” Right (clockwise from top) Reaching Handstand 20” x 10” x 6” Staying Balanced 24” x 12” x 7” Arching and Kneeling 16” x 20” x 10” One Hand in Wheel 18” x 18” x 8”
Alex
Bernstein
Alex Bernstein works in Ashland, NC. He grew up nearby in the Penland, NC area. Not only were both of his parents, William and Kate Bernstein, glass artists, but he also lived near Harvey Littleton, Richard Ritter, Mark Peiser and other glass artists who taught at the Penland School of Crafts. Alex’s organic cast sculptures provide the viewer with intimate narrative landscapes. The three pieces offered here are great examples of Alex’s innovative aesthetic in glass.
Left Green Door 20 x 14” x 2 Below Twisting Journey 2010 18½” x 7½” x 2” Right Blue Door 20” x 14” x 2”
Nancy Callan
Left Coriolis Cloud 2010 16½” x 16½” x 6 Below Fiddlehead Top 2010 12” x 18” x 13” Right Carmine Pinwheel Top 2009 11½” x 16” x 11”
Nancy Callan, like so many other leading glass blowers, creates her work in Seattle. She has been a professional glass artist since the mid-1990’s. She is also a key member of Lino Tagliapietra’s team when he is in Seattle blowing glass. Influenced in part by childhood toys and comic books, Callan fuses playfulness with a fluency in her medium to produce colorful and exceptionally well-crafted works. Nancy says, “While creating each piece, I try to balance the challenges of hot glass with the sense of wonder and fun I felt the first time I gathered from the furnace.”
José
Chardiet
José Chardiet works in Providence, RI and began his glass career in the late 1980’s. He has taught at Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, Haystack School of Crafts and at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. José’s works reflect his own unique artistic vision and he is equally skilled at blowing and casting glass. Two of the works offered here are from his recent reexploration of the vessel form. The other is from his still life series.
Left Dancing Flora 15½ x 9 Below Flor y Mariposa 20½” x 18” x 6½” Right Blackstone Woods 10” x 5” x 7”
Chihuly Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, WA in 1941. It is not an exaggeration to say that Chihuly has had a unique and profound role in shaping the world of contemporary glass. His teaching and mentoring dozens of the finest glassblowers in this country, his co-founding and support of Pilchuck Glass School, his numerous museum shows in the U.S. and abroad and his installations in public spaces have all played an inestimable part in bringing glass making out of the arena of craft and into the world of fine art. For this catalog we have chosen two “classic” archival works from the Seaform and Persian series and a spectacular new Venetian made last year. Chihuly is currently working on a number of large-scale architectural projects both in the U.S. and abroad.
Photo: Scott Mitchell Leen
Dale
Silvered Blue Venetian with Ice Flowers 2009 19” x 18” x 18”
Dale
Left Pine Forest Green Persian Set with Daffodil Lip Wraps 1997 11 x 21” x 19”
Chihuly
Below Iceberg Green Basket Set with Oxblood Lip Wraps 2000 5” x 12” x 11”
Photo: Teresa Nouri Rishel
Photo: Scott Mitchell Leen
John
Kiley
John Kiley is a native of Seattle, where he works today. John worked for Chihuly in the 1990’s and was gaffer for many of Dale’s early chandeliers. He also traveled with Dale as a team member for the Chihuly Over Venice project. For the past 15 years he has been a key member of Lino’s team while also pursuing his own professional career in glass. Kiley’s works are a bold exploration of internal and external form, an expression of the relationship that exists between shape and light. John says, “I strive to create objects that push the material itself beyond its simple inherent beauty.”
Left Pod 2010 12” x 16½” x 14” Below Ruby Eclipse 2010 10½” x 10½” x 10” Right Yellow Flare 2010 20½” x 11” x 9”
Marvin
Lipofsky
Marvin Liposky’s career in glass began in the 1960’s when he was one of the first graduate students in Harvey Littleton’s seminal glass program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Marvin went on to introduce glass as an art form at the University of California at Berkeley and to head the Glass Department at the California School of Arts and Crafts. He has traveled throughout the world to work with many of the best-known glass blowers, always returning to his studio in Berkeley to do the cutting and surface treatment to finish his pieces. For this catalog Marvin has chosen archival works from three of his most famous series.
Left San Jose Group #1 2004-06 10” x 18½” x 12” Below Violetta Series #14 1992-96 11” x 15” x 14” Right Chico Spring Group #8 1988 10½” x 11” x 10½”
Dante
Marioni
Dante Marioni was born in California and lives and works in Seattle. He studied at Penland School of Crafts and Pilchuck School in the mid-1980’s and began exhibiting his works in galleries in the late 1980’s. Marioni’s glass work is strongly influenced in its forms and cane work by the Venetian tradition and yet he has a distinctive style and aesthetic which is all his own. He was honored in 1995 to have his work grace the cover of The White House Collection of American Crafts. The three works here are an excellent sampling of Dante’s aesthetic and technical virtuosity.
Left Colored Vessel Display 2009 27 x 19” x 5” Below Chartreuse and Orange Fiddlehead Fern 2008 19” x 13” x 8½” Right Purple with Green Standing Leaf 2010 30” x 9½”
Morris
William Morris began his career in glass driving a truck for Dale Chihuly. He was soon promoted to a position on the team and before long became one of Dale’s most talented gaffers. It didn’t take long for Morris to pursue his own career in glass. His technical virtuosity in blowing and sculpting hot glass combined with his unique artistic vision has put Morris firmly into the category of all-time glass greats. For this catalog, Bill kindly agreed to release from his archives three pieces from one of his most mature series, the Medicine Jars. These works have been traveling in museum shows since 2006.
Below Medicine Jar 2006 13” x 10” x 5” Right Medicine Jar 2006 27” x 7” x 7”
All Morris photos: Rob Vinnedge
William
Left Medicine Jar 2006 25” x 9” x 9”
Stephen
Powell
Stephen Powell was born in Birmingham, Alabama and is a Professor of Art at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He has been a professional glass artist since the 1980’s and has trained some of the leading emerging artists in the field of contemporary glass. Stephen is known for his colorful, often whimsical large scale blown glass pieces. In contrast to his large and bold organic forms is the delicate patterning of the color which he achieves by laying out an intricate pattern of glass beads (murini) and rolling them into the surface of the hot vessel. Steve chose outstanding examples of three of his best known series for this catalog.
Left Bleeding Hyper Scooter 2005 27½” x 26½” x 19¼” Below Hyper Manic Spanky 2010 36” x 20” x 11” Right Grinning Pomegranate Jones 2003 27½” x 9” x 9”
Preston
Singletary
Preston lives and works in Seattle. He is a Native American of the Tlinkit People (on his mother’s side) and his elegant blown glass sculptures are informed by the stories and images of his people and their artistic tradition. The two pieces featured here, like most of his pieces, are narrative in form. Preston has taught, lectured and exhibited internationally since 1989. He was recently honored by a retrospective exhibition at the Tacoma Museum of Glass and this show will also be traveling to other museums.
Left Raven Steals the Moon 2010 14” high Right Killer Whale 2010 27” x 8½” x 12½”
Tagliapietra Lino Tagliapietra is widely regarded among glass artists and aficionados as the world’s greatest living glassblower. Lino was born in Murano in 1934 and has been working professionally in glass since the mid-1940’s. He became Maestro at the age of 21 and worked in many of the leading glass factories on his native island in the Venetian lagoon. In 1979 Lino traveled to the U.S. for the first time at the invitation of the Pilchuck Glass School. At that time the American glassblowers were hungry for Lino’s technical knowledge which he has shared generously now for 30 years. Lino, on the other hand, was equally impressed and influenced by the creativity and artistic freedom of his American counterparts and thus began one of the greatest cultural exchanges in glass history.
All Tagliapietra photos: Russell Johnson
Lino
Maui 2010 21½ x 14¼” x 7¾”
Lino
Tagliapietra
Left Niomea 2010 28¾” x 16¼” x 8¼” Right Saba 2008 19½” x 15¼” x 7¼”
Holsten Galleries Online Gallery www.holstengalleries.com Director Kenn Holsten E-mail kenn@holstengalleries.com Telephone 505.992.0270 Mailing Address 369 Montezuma Ave. #314 Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
12 in glass