The Blue Room
Jennifer Elek, Benjamin Cobb, Nancy Callan,
Jean Salatino & Steven Gandolfo, Robbie Miller,
Nancy Blair and György Gáspár

27.06. -  29.08.2009

Vernissage Friday 26.06.2009 from 7pm

Nancy Callan Blau Delvi│ blown and sandblasted glass│ 2008


Nancy Callan Aquamarine Tartan│ blown glass│ 2007


 HELLO COUSTEAU│ cast glass, grinding, fusing, hand polishing │ 28×16×14cm│ 2006


THE CABIN │ cast glass, grinding, adhesived, mirror, hand polishing │ 28×16×14cm│ 2007


Robbie Miller The Big Blue│ blown glass│

Benjamin Cobb Visceral Lozenge│ blown glass│ 2009


Jean Salatino/ Steven Gandolfo Aqua Whirlpool│ blown and diamond cut glass│ 2008


 

Nadania Idriss New Glass Art & Photography is delighted to present The Blue Room, a group exhibition featuring some of the most prominent international artists working with glass: Jennifer Elek, Benjamin Cobb, Nancy Callan, Jean Salatino & Steven Gandolfo, Robiie Miller, Nancy Blair and György Gáspár. The Blue Room is a collaborative exhibition with the renowned Traver Gallery in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington (www.travergallery.com).

Jennifer Elek (USA) has worked for several years on the team of Italian maestro Lino Tagliapietra. Her luscious Butchigiri sculptures are composed of multiple spheres of glossy, opaque glass. Referred to by the Japanese term for an overwhelming win, these playful sculptures are inspired by childhood rewards for a job well done – gum balls, stickers and vending machine prizes.

Benjamin Cobb's (USA) sleek, abstracted sculptural vessels are inspired by the vulnerable, internal organs of the human body. His newest work is focused on a study of human muscular structure. By incorporating optical, biological and architectural references into his work, the artist explores the dichotomy of inside/outside, form/function, in a highly personal and contemporary manner.

Combining extraordinary technical expertise with innovative design and a contagious sense of fun, Nancy Callan's (USA) whimsical, large-scale blown glass sculptures are inspired by the forms, colors and patterns of nature. Many of the sculptures in this series have caterpillar-like articulations and rounded, inflated bodies. Their organic shapes are adorned with glass cane patterns designed to amplify and draw attention to the forms. Like fabrics by Pucci or Marimekko, the colorful and graphic patterns, Callan’s work presents a stylized, playful vision of nature.

After trying her hand with glass, Jean Salatino (USA) graduated in 1997 with her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts. While exploring many aspects and techniques of glass, she continued to improve and refine her cold-working skills. At this time Jean started spending her summers at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA. Over this time Jean began focusing on the ancient techniques of wheel cut glass. With the help of modern day synthetic diamonds, she cuts thick hand-blown vessels known as blanks. These blanks are blown by Steven Gandolfo (USA), Jean’s husband and creative collaborator. She carves into the glass deeply, not just giving it surface texture but changing the form. This creates many facets and planes that catch and bend light; and only when the piece is finally finished does it reveal the brilliance of light.

Robbie Miller (Great Britain) has been employed to assist in the production of art works around the world, by a long, “who’s who” list of artists including Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, Richard Marquis, Italo Scanga and Christopher Wilmarth; to name but a few. Miller’s signature blown glass bottles (based on commercially manufactured forms), his found, painted and fired liquor bottles and his blown glass ducks can be found in collections throughout the United States. Miller has taught at the Pilchuck Glass School, Urban Glass in Brooklyn, New York, and the University of Hawaii with collaborator John Drury. In both 1999 and 2001, Robbie Miller was nominated to receive a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award for the Visual Arts.

Nancy Blair's (USA) mostly narrative sculptures and mixed media works include glass, ceramics and found objects. She has exhibited her art both internationally and nationally, and has been commissioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Franklin Mint, The Women’s National Education Association, and the United States Olympic Equestrian Museum. Her goddess sculpture was selected for inclusion in Oliver Stone’s movie, The Doors.

György Gáspár (Hungary) created The Rocket and Alien Projects as a commentary of the distorted reflection seen in commercial action movies of the 1980’s. A simple, plastic expression composed of geometrical elements that are fused together to create an autonomous, artistic creation. The artist’s childhood questions have been rewritten into geometrical forms, mirrored to us by recognizable images. The pieces constructed from geometrical shapes reflect a very clear, static balance point that derives not only from the transparent uniqueness of the glass but also from its construction. György is an instructor in the glass department of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) in Budapest. He classifies himself as a geo-pop artist, a term he invented for himself. In 2009, Gáspár received the prestigious Noémi Ferenczy Prize in recognition of excellence in art and design.

With special thanks to Manuel Osterholt aka: Superblast (www.superblast.de) and the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Berlin (www.mkgallery.com)