Glass 116, Fall 2009
The new issue of GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly hits newsstands and subscriber mailboxes this week. On the cover: Yoichi Ohira’s Cristallo Sommerso N. 49—Scolpito Vase (2008), made from hand-blown, cut, and polished glass with partial inciso surface.
This 11-inch tall vessel transfixes with its three shifting planes, its unsteady form firmly rooted in the strong vertical line of the blown bubble plunging through this vessel. This is uncharacteristic work for Ohira, a Japanese-born artist who has taken up residence in Venice for decades to be close to his collaborators — skilled Murano maestros such as Livio serena and Giacomo Barbini who fabricated the work on the cover.
Ohira is better known for his chromatically bold yet controlled murini-rich surfaces that are carved and polished into objects of exquisite expression. The clear work shows him as a master of pure form, as well. Text by Attila Dorigato, former director of the Museo Del Vetro, Murano, and Janet Koplos, art critic and guest editor of American Craft magazine, provide insightful readings of Ohira’s work, as well as that of Laura de Santillana and Cristiano Bianchin, all of whom are being shown in an exhibition opening in late October at Barry Friedman Ltd., in New York City.
Also in this issue: Jennifer Opie on Markku Salo, Lilly Wei on the GlassStress exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Scott Benefield on the first 40 years of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie’s glass program, and a roundtable discussion by GLASS contributing editor James Yood on the future of glass featuring the Corning Museum of Glass’s Tina Oldknow, GLASS editor Andrew Page, Tacoma Museum of Glass’s Melissa G. Post, and the Katonah Museum’s Neil Watson.
Reviews include Tara Donovan at Pace Wildenstein Gallery, New York; Diana Cooper’s permanent installation in New York; Richard Meitner at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York; Michael Taylor at the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York; a group exhibition at FLUXspace, Philadelphia; and Yumi Nozaki at Luniverre Gallery, Paris.
1 Comment
September 4, 2009 at 12:10 PM
I love your new web site. You should add the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass to your Arts Organizations list. Keep up the good work. As an avid collector I appreciate your articles in the magazine. Your issue with the cross references of galleries and artists was helpful.