New Glass Now
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
I usually like curated exhibitions that follow a theme or style and I can clearly see the style and taste of the curator/s. The concepts of each piece were completely different, adventurous and amazing. I loved all of them, all for different reasons. Caroline Landau makes wax cases of arctic ice and then molds them in glass to preserve the form of rapidly melting ice. Tamás Ábel creates a rainbow mirror which looks a bit understated until we watched his video using the mirror to reflect the rainbow onto historic buildings in his native Budapest and the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, as a statement of bringing LGBT equality to places that it needs to be. More info on the artists and links (click on the photos)
"New Glass Now gives voice to a new generation of artists and designers who are harnessing the possibilities of glass to respond to our complex contemporary moment. Though just the tip of the iceberg, these 100 pieces are an introduction to the incredible diversity of contemporary glassmaking and thinking. From technically masterful vessels to experiments in the chemistry of glass, these works challenge the very notion of what the material of glass is and what it can do. This is the present tense of contemporary glass. This is New Glass Now.
In 2018, the Museum launched an open call for submissions to artists and designers from around the world, asking for works made in the last three years. Anyone working in glass could apply, and all—from the novice hobbyist to the most famous artists—were given equal consideration. Over 1,400 individuals and companies submitted nearly 4,000 images. To choose the works in New Glass Now, the Museum asked a panel to review the submissions and select 100 artworks representative of the diverse approaches to glassworking today. This exhibition is the result of their varied perspectives and experiences."
We saw the work of the winner of Blown Away, "fierce female glassblower" Deborah Czeresko. "She has a Blown Away Residency, which was part of the prize package for the Netflix show." https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-meet-deborah-czeresko-glass-artist-won-netflixs-blown-away
Deborah Czeresko’s work originates from personal experience influenced by the complexities of modern-day political and social ideas. Her thematic approach addresses the gendering of occupations and art through the lens of a mythical female maestro. “I use glass because of its paradoxical nature as a shapeshifting, gender-defying material,” said Czeresko. “Those qualities make it perfect for me to explore work that combines aesthetics with a social or political message.”
A New York City-based artist, Czeresko uses a range of approaches and techniques in her work including hot glass sculpting, performance, and collaboration. She began working with glass at the New York Experimental Glass Workshop in 1987 after earning a BA in psychology from Rutgers University. In 1992, she earned a graduate degree in studio art at Tulane University, New Orleans. Since then, she has been a glassblowing instructor and visiting artist at many universities and schools throughout the United States and in Europe. She has previously performed at UrbanGlass and Brooklyn Glass, both in Brooklyn, N.Y., as well as The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va. In 2019, she was featured as a contestant on Blown Away, an art glass competition show created by Marblemedia.
Czeresko’s work has been publicly exhibited across the United States, including at The Corning Museum of Glass. She was selected as one of the 100 artists included in New Glass Now, a global survey of contemporary glass that opened in May 2019. Additionally, one of her finished works from Blown Away is showcased in Blown Away: Glassblowing Comes to Netflix, a temporary display in the Museum's Amphitheater Hot Shop that delves into the Museum’s involvement in the show.