Two
important new exhibitions of world-class glass art are about to mark a
renewed interest in a medium that beautifully blurs the boundaries
between fine art, craft and design.
Hot Glass: new work from the furnace will be dedicated to the
best in contemporary blown, hot-worked and sand-cast glass and takes
place at London’s Contemporary Applied Arts (CAA) gallery next spring.
Hot Glass, a collaboration between CAA and the Contemporary Glass
Society, will present a dynamic mix of new work from some of the world’s
most talented artists.
New Glass: Ancient Skill, Contemporary Artform will focus on
the skill and creativity of today’s glassmakers in an exhibition at the
stunning Blackwell Arts and Crafts house in Bowness-on-Windermere. New
Glass, jointly organised with the Lakeland Arts Trust (LAT), will run
from January to April next year. It will showcase the best of
glassmakers’ skills and artistic vision in synergy with the house and
its history. The exhibition will also reveal something of the hidden
processes that underpin the glassmaker’s art. Drawings, models and
photographic documentation of processes will be presented alongside the
work selected for the show.
Both exhibitions are being organised by the Contemporary Glass
Society as part of Glass Skills – the second stage of a two-year project
to put contemporary glass on the map. The programme began this summer
with more than 70 glass events inspired by the Olympic games. Glass
Skills follows on with a year-long celebration of the imagination and
talent of contemporary glassmakers and their role in keeping ancient
skills alive. Artists are now being invited to submit work and
proposals.