It is a little sad to see the show come down. There are some beautiful pieces here, many of which are loans and will be leaving shortly. A life size Karen Lamont sculpture reduces Greek statuary to garment only. The molded glass folds around an invisible, empty core. If I could own one masterwork out of the show that would be it. A slightly more feasible (at least spatially) acquisition would be a Sonja Blomdahl bowl or vase. This became a popular game both with curatorial staff and with docents leading school tours: pick your favorite Blomdahl! The floating walls newly painted dark charcoal isolated the Blomdahls from the other two exhibition segments and caused the works to glow iridescent against their stark backdrop. That was my favorite room. A Kaneko work made up of striated glass panels formed a giant wave that visitors could walk inside (one at a time). It took a week to get it up, panel by panel, welded into place with a heavy application of silicone and bracing clamps.
The exhibition opened with a host of talks and tours and workshops etc., including a mobile hot shop down from Washington complete with two guys gamely blowing glass all day. They have no idea how lucky they got with the weather. Arkansas heat at its worst and open furnances... it would have been another contribution to the debate on what constitutes torture. Happily they got lucky, the weather was mild and the courtyard was shady and even the great Sonja Blomdahl came out to blow glass.
No comments:
Post a Comment