MURANO MOSAIC Persistence & Evolution
Tansey Contemporary 1743 Wazee St, Suite 150 Denver, CO 80204 720-596-4243 info@tanseycontemporary.com www.tanseycontemporary.com @tanseycontemporary Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens 253 Barcelona Road West Palm Beach, FL 33401 561-832-5328 info@ansg.org www.ansg.org @ann_norton_sculpture_gardens
CONTENTS Introduction
The Artists Clare Belfrage Giles Bettison Lino Tagliapietra .Kazuki Tazkizawa
The Art Clare Belfrage Giles Bettison Lino Tagliapietra Kazuki Takizawa
About Tansey Contemporary .Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens
INTRODUCTION Jennifer Hawkins Opie states in Contemporary International Glass, “Glass is a responsive, challenging, and vivid material for artists. It is also a practical, waterproof, unobtrusive material for design in daily use. It is special and everyday, flamboyant and functional, collected and discarded.” Like the human body, it is simultaneously fragile yet strong. The versatile material has captivated not only artists but also scientists, manufacturers, and humanitarians. As one of the safest materials in which to store and serve food, glass has promoted increased life spans worldwide and drastically reduced disease. Through its half millenia history, Murano, Italy holds a special place as Europe’s first glassmaking center and as a place of innovation in material and process.
The vicissitudes of Murano’s glass tradition date back to the Roman Empire. In the late 1200s, ostensibly in a measure to protect Venice’s overpopulated wooden structures, glass manufacturing moved to the island of Murano. Soon after, laws forbid glassmakers from leaving the island, spawning a culture of guarded secrecy that continues to this day in certain circles. Murano glass flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries due to Venice’s advantageous geography but as Venice’s power on trade routes weakened in the 17th century, new centers for glass emerged throughout Europe. Yet Murano continued to innovate and develop new techniques. In the late 19th century interest in Venice renewed sparking a new demand for its traditional crafts including Murrini. The 20th and 21st centuries saw the rise and fall of Murano glass due to world wars, cheap imitations, and economic shifts. Even through its numerous ups and downs, Murano’s glass tradition continues to persist and evolve.
Murano’s influence on the contemporary international glass art community cannot be ignored. In 1979, Maestro Lino Tagliapietra visited Pilchuck Glass School to teach his highly honed techniques to a new generation of passionate yet rudimentary skilled glass artists. It remains an unprecedented moment in glass art history that continues to shape
the present and influence the future. Benjamin Moore, owner of Benjamin Moore, Inc. in Seattle, Washington, who first invited Lino to Pilchuck, recounts in the Fall 2018 issue of glass, The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly how upon Tagliapietra’s return to Murano some people called him “Americano” in a derogatory way. Despite being ostracized by some, Lino continued to share his knowledge with the outside world. Moore says, “Lino was always such an anomaly compared to most of the masters on the island; he always brought this worldly sensibility, an interest in design and art.” Lino’s work with glass artists in America and beyond liberated him to take more risks and use the material for high art.
The Pacific Northwest then became a funnel through which instructors, students, and assistants the world over filtered. Tagliapietra’s sharing of Murano’s techniques elevated Murano’s standing and raised international standards for studio glass craftsmanship. The collaborative process of glassblowing naturally creates camaraderie between artists, assistants, and apprentices in shared studios, resources, and techniques. Hawkins Opie sees this teamoriented nature of hot glass artists as “one of its most attractive characteristics of their community.” Suddenly an international nomadic network developed to import talent and send emerging artists to study abroad.
As glass artists began developing workshops and communities in their home countries, Tagliapietra and other visiting artists travelled abroad to these new glass centers in order to demonstrate techniques firsthand. The Australian studio glass movement, for example, gained momentum in the 1980s thanks to the combination of state support, the establishment of JamFactory, the continent’s longest-running hot glass studio, and the creation of glass programs at several universities. Like the Muranese, the Australian artists began to innovate. Margot Osborne writes in her book Australian Glass Today, “Glass artists in Australia are historically informed by, but not constrained to follow,
traditional approaches. They are technically accomplished but use their skills and knowledge of the behavior of glass as a departure point for evolving distinctive personal languages.” Giles Bettison, known for his intricate murrini vessels, developed a technique for making murrini from sheet glass that expanded artistic possibilities in color and pattern. Osborne states in Bettison, Pattern and Perception that this innovation “opened up a whole universe of modulated color combination and of grid or cellular patterns deriving from miniaturized linear designs of the fused sheets.” Clare Belfrage added the element of time to the traditionally fast-paced hot working methods with her intricate and layered cane drawing methods.
Studio glass continues to evolve as new artists the world over turn to this material to express their vision. Japanese artist Kazuki Takizawa creates his sculptural and installation works using both traditional Italian and unorthodox techniques to create multiple layers of complexity in his blown vessels.
Murano Mosaics - Persistence and Evolution pays homage to Murano’s influence on contemporary studio glass through the iconic works of Tagliapietra, the distinctive murrini vessels of Bettison, Belfrage’s contemplative pieces, and Takizawa’s metaphorically charged sculptures. While each artist’s work remains a unique expression of his or her artistic vision, the pieces as a whole share similarities in technique and form. Caneworking, for example, was originally invented in southern Italy during the latter half of the third century BC and was later elaborately developed centuries later on Murano. The use of cane remains a central component in each artist’s work in the exhibition albeit in different expressions. Tagliapietra makes canes to decorate his blown vessels. Bettison uses cane as the building blocks of his intricate murrini or mosaic glass tiles. Belfrage draws with cane to make her layered, linear works that, like the best abstract paintings, create an an immersive depth. Takizawa’s
canework on his vessels creates web-like surfaces.
The vessel remains an important form for contemporary studio glass artists. Osborne says, “Vessels have archetypal resonance as containers of precious and ritually significant essences, both real and metaphorical. They are symbols of rites of passage and of the quintessence of existence. Vessels carry the history of glass and its interwoven cultural histories.” Indeed, in Japan human beings are often referred to as vessels. Vessels refer the body, a container so to speak for the soul. Tagliapietra’s vessels appear to defy the laws of gravity balanced as they are on such a small base compared to the expansive volume above it. Bettison’s intensely patterned vessels dazzle the eye will their varying level of detail, line, and color. Belfrage’s organic vessels sit like stones, contemplative and elegant. Takizawa’s vessels range from spherical to oblong like varying body types: short and stout to tall and lanky.
Additionally, these works share a combined use of organic and linear in both overall shape and surface line. The bulbous overall shape of Tagliapietra’s Africa 2015, for example, is covered with thin, sharp intersecting lines that create a net of geometric shapes: diamonds, triangles, rhombuses, and parallelograms. Bettison’s Vista 14 #3 mimics the structure of a cell with an off-center nucleus surrounded by cytoplasm and mitochondria within a rigid rectangular form. Belfrage combines an organic shape with crisp, interwoven lines in Open Work #4413. Takizawa’s Minimalist BW Threads similarly pairs a spherical shape with irregular lines that circumscribe the entire surface.
Even with these similarities, each artist’s distinct voice shines through the work. Tagliapietra’s exquisite technique, bold color combinations, and seemingly impossible engineering make his work inimitable. Flamboyant patterns and impeccable craftsmanship remain the hallmarks of his oeuvre. Bettison traffics in color and complexity with a
definitive sense of rhythm, order, and beauty in his loose, organic grids. Belfrage’s intense yet meditative surfaces mimic those found in nature to create subtle yet complex structures and patterns. While appearing at first to be simple, Takizawa’s multi-layered vessels contain complexity and chaos within a simple form.
THE ARTISTS
CLARE BELFRAGE Internationally-renowned glass artist Clare Belfrage lives and works in Adelaide, South Australia. She has maintained a vibrant practice as an active member of both Adelaide and Canberra, Australia’s artistic communities as a founding member of Blue Pony glass studio, former Creative Director of Canberra Glassworks, and studio member at JamFactory, Australia’s longestrunning hot glass studio. She graduated from Monash University in Melbourne with a BFA. She is known for her intricately detailed sculptures that meld organic, blown-glass forms with highly detailed, complex, and elegant line work. Belfrage creates her textured hot-worked pieces by laying long, thin threads of glass known as stringers, three to six at a time, across the hand-blown surface in a repetitive pattern until it is fully covered. The effect creates a woven surface texture that mimics netting, webbing, and basketry. Her cold-worked pieces begin with hand-blown forms and the addition of thin, glass rods melted onto the surface, a technique known as cane drawing. Belfrage then develops the surface of these pieces through a coldworking process that does not rely on heat. Methods include grinding, carving, engraving, polishing, and sandblasting, among other techniques. Belfrage’s work, as Dr. Robert Bell, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at the Australian National Gallery says, exudes “a sense of effortlessness despite the extraordinary technical complexity in its creation.” Belfrage pulls her inspiration from nature as well as textiles, specifically their rhythms, patterns, and details. Her observations of rock formations, plant forms, seashells, and sand as well as the textures of natural fibers and baskets
inform her glass drawing. “My point of view,” Belfrage says, “is often looking from close up. The big feeling that small gives me is intimate and powerful. The industry in nature, its rhythm and energy, dramatic and delicate, still holds my fascination as does the language and process of glass.” Belfrage’s work has been recognized for its innovation and originality. A two-time winner of the Tom Malone Glass Prize, Belfrage most recently received the 2016 FUSE Glass Prize. In 2018 Belfrage earned the South Australian Living Artist (SALA) designation, which recognizes the work of leading practitioners from the region who have significant national and international profiles along with considerable influence in their chosen field. Her work is represented in major public collections such as New York’s Corning Museum of Glass, Portugal's Museu de Vidro, Marinha Grande, Washington State’s Tacoma Museum of Glass, and several museums in Australia including the National Art Glass Collection and the Australian National Gallery.
Photo credits: Pippy Mount
GILES BETTISON Australian-born glass artist Giles Bettison now resides in New Orleans, LA. He earned a BFA from Canberra School of Art and has studied at Australian National University, Corning Museum of Glass, and the Pilchuck Glass School.
Bettison leads Australia’s glass community as one of the most sought-after and recognized artists due to his pioneering evolution of the Venetian Murrini or mosaic glass technique that dates back 4,000 years. The mosaic technique involves fusing slices of glass pattern bar together to form vessels or panels called glass canes. His innovative and experimental use of the technique includes using colored sheet glass to create the canes, which are cut into strips and stacked to build up a pattern one section at a time. He then rolls the sheet onto a glass blowing iron where he uses techniques similar to glass blowing to create the desired shape. The steps to create a single piece take seven to 12 days with several separate cold, warm, and hot steps throughout the process. Bettison investigates ideas about connection, beauty, pattern, and perception in his work. While each of Bettison’s series reflect different and distinct explorations, the ideas and themes that influence his work most - landscape and textiles - cross-pollinate, building upon and informing each subsequent series. Inspired by the rhythms and textures of sources as disparate as farmland to dense cityscapes, Bettison combines seemingly random and frenetic patterns into a unified composition. Other works explore the significance of textiles within cultures and traditions. The weaving traditions of West Africa, Mexico, and Indonesia, especially cloth used in celebrations, rituals, and rites of passage also influence his work. Bettison says, “The fine detail, intricate patterns, and colors all speak of careful attention to detail,
time commitment, and skill among other things, values that are held in high regard.� Bettison’s works are collected internationally and can be found in permanent collections at Australian National Gallery, Corning Museum of Glass, The Museum of Arts and Design, and Centro Videro do Norte Portugal. He earned the 2015 South Australian Living Artist (SALA) designation, which recognizes the work of leading practitioners from the region who have significant national and international profiles along with considerable influence in their chosen field.
Photos courtesy of Giles Bettison
LINO TAGLIAPIETRA Recognized internationally as the Maestro (Master) of contemporary glass, Italian artist Lino Tagliapietra’s peers consider him the greatest glassblower of all time. Starting at the age of 11 as an apprentice on the island of Murano, which neighbors Venice in the Venetian Lagoon, he earned the title of Maestro in his early 20s while working for one of the most prestigious glassworks companies in the world. During the 1960s Tagliapietra began developing works that would become the basis for his iconic personal style. He splits his time between Murano and Seattle, Washington. Tagliapietra’s blown and fused glassworks demonstrate a stunning combination of technically complex production skills and incredible creativity. Now in his 80s, he brings over seven decades of experience to his craft. He utilizes several traditional Murano glassblowing techniques including Avventurina, Filigrana, Millefiori, Murrine and Vetro a Ghiaccio among others. Avventurina, which is distinguished by its appearance of sparkling particles inside translucent glass, was developed in the 17th century on Murano. Early uses of the word describe “a kind of stone with gilt stars inside.” The long and delicate process to make these works results in pieces foliated and sparkling from bits of gold, copper, or chromic oxide crystal inside. Filigrana or filigree glass is blown glass made with colorless, white, and sometimes colored canes in complex, thread-like, linear patterns on the vessel’s interior. Millefiori, which references a flower field, refers to Venetian mosaic glass made from preformed elements placed in a mold and heated until fused. Murrine indicates slices of a composite cane that creates a cross-section pattern. Vetro a Ghiaccio or Ice Glass is
named after the decorative effect of visible “cracks” on a piece similar to fractured ice. To create the effect, the hot glass is put into cold water and quickly and carefully returned to the kiln. Tagliapietra’s expertise in these myriad techniques leads to perfect execution and aesthetic innovation in his work. Known for his graceful forms, intricate linework and palette, and masterful techniques, Tagliapietra created a massive shift in the Studio Glass Movement when he accepted an invitation to teach at Pilchuck Glass School. His openness with Murano’s historically closely guarded techniques, accessibility, and willingness to innovate with tradition, have made a significant impact on future generations of glass artists. Regarding his creation process, Tagliapietra says, “...suddenly a little ‘flame’ lights up; I do not know from where... It reaches me in the morning...while talking to people or staring at a painting or piece of fabric or reading a book. Then I have to decorate the idea with colors, design, and art.” He sees the materials of glass itself as inspiration saying, “Glass is alive. Even when it is cool it is still moving. It is connected with fire, it is connected with water, it is...my life.” Tagliapietra’s work is featured in numerous museum collections throughout the world such as Corning Museum of Glass, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The DeYoung Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, the Metropolitan Museum, and numerous others. His list of accolades include honorary doctorate degrees from Kentucky’s Centre College and Ohio State University, a Distinguished Educator Award from the James Renwick Alliance of Washington, D.C., the Phoenix Award from Venice, Italy, the Rakow Commission for Excellence in Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass and an UrbanGlass Award for Preservation of Glassblowing Techniques.
Photo credits: Russell Johnson
KAZUKI TAKIZAWA Kazuki Takizama, a Japanese glass artist who was born and raised in Hong Kong and attended high school in Bangkok, Thailand, now lives and works in Los Angeles, California’s West Adams district, where he runs his glassblowing studio, KT Glassworks. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with high honors. He has since worked and taught at various educational glass facilities such as Pilchuck Glass School and Public Glass and lectured at institutions such as the Tokyo Glass Art Institute, Craft in America Center, the Museum of Fine Arts, and Bowling Green State University, among others. Takizawa creates sculptural and installation-based blown and shaped glass works using both traditional and unorthodox techniques. His works explore topics within mental illness such as suicide, depression, and other disorders with beauty and grace. He says his own experience with bipolar disorder and its inherent and inescapable ups and downs create “the harmonization of the radically different… violence and meditation, spontaneity and meticulousness, and destruction and repair, is found in the process.” Human beings in the Japanese language are sometimes referred to vessels, which Takizawa relates to the medium of glass, a material which is often used to create vessels. Therefore, Takizawa’s sculptures serve as psychological metaphors. He also points to the shape, texture, and
and connotations of shells - protectiveness, privacy, individuality - as an influence in his work. His work has been exhibited nationally at numerous museums and art centers including Craft in America, STARworks, and Museum of Contemporary Craft. He has won several awards and scholarships from the Pilchuck School of Glass and University of Hawaii. Takizawa has been artist in residence at The Works in Newark, Ohio, Salem State University in Massachusetts, and STARworks Glass Lab in Star, North Carolina. He’s been featured in NBC Asian American, American Craft Magazine, and Voyage LA Magazine.
Photos courtesy of Kazuki Takizawa
THE ART
GATHERING, 2005 Clare Belfrage Blown glass, cane, acid etched 18.5" x 35" x 12.5"
IN SIGHT, RUSSET, 2015 Clare Belfrage Blown glass 18.5" x 19.2" x 6.7"
OPEN WORK #4413, 2013 Clare Belfrage Hand blown glass 14" x 17" x 3.5" Photo credit" Rob Little
QUIET SHIFTING (CORAL AND GOLD), 2017 Clare Belfrage Blown glass with cane drawing, coldworked 15" x 12.6" x 6.3" Photo credit: Pippy Mount
QUIET SHIFTING (RICH BLUE AND OLIVE), 2017 Clare Belfrage Blown glass with cane drawing, coldworked 15.4" x 12.6" x 6.7"
QUIET SHIFTING (TEAL AND GOLD), 2017 Clare Belfrage Blown glass with cane drawing, coldworked 18.9" x 13" x 7.9"
SKIN DEEP (BROWN AND OCEANA), 2017 Clare Belfrage Blown glass with cane drawing, coldworked 22" x 10.2" x 5.5"
CHROMA 17 #1, 2017 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 8.75" x 7.5" x 7.5"
CHROMA 2015 #10, 2015 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 10.5" x 6.1" x 6.1"
CHROMA 2015 #11, 2015 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 8.1" x 7.1" x 7.1"
LACE 09 #22, 2009 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 8.25" x 9.62" x 1.75"
NOTCH 2015 #12, 2015 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 10" x 2.4" x 2.4"
NOTCH 2015 #4, 2015 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 9.6" x 7.7" x 2.8"
TEXTILE 13 #15, 2013 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 10" x 7" x 7"
TEXTILE 14 #7, 2014 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 9" x 8" x 8"
TEXTILE 15 #17, 2013 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 10.24" x 6.3" x 6.3"
VISTA 14 #3, 2014 Giles Bettison Murrini glass 31.5" x 16.25" x 8"
AFRICA, 2015 Lino Tagliapietra Blown glass 12.25" x 22" x 22"
FUJI, 2015 Lino Tagliapietra Glass 16.75" x 17.25" x 17.25"
HADRIA, 2017 Lino Tagliapietra Blown glass 16.25" x 15.75" x 8.75"
TORTUGA, 2009 Lino Tagliapietra Blown glass 25.25" x 14" x 7.5"
MINIMALIST BWE, 2018 Kazuki Takizawa Blown glass 26" x 7" x 7"
MINIMALIST BWM, 2018 Kazuki Takizawa Blown glass 22.5" x 9" x 9"
MINIMALIST BW THREADS, 2018 Kazuki Takizawa Blown glass 17" x 14" x 14"
TANSEY CONTEMPORARY Focused at the intersection of craft, contemporary art, and design, Tansey Contemporary showcases glass, fiber, ceramics, mixed media, and metal artworks. Our artist roster features primarily wellestablished and mid-career artists creating museum-quality works who exhibit nationally and internationally and demonstrate a recognized level of mastery within their chosen medium. From a curatorial perspective, we place equal emphasis on the “how” and the “why" - taking into consideration both process and context. While purpose and meaning is fundamental to the value of art to humanity, quality in execution, we believe, is fundamental to the value of craft within the world of the visual arts.
ANN NORTON SCULPTURE GARDENS The historic Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Inc., is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization, established in 1977 by Ann Weaver Norton (1905-1982) to preserve the historically registered house and surrounding gardens in West Palm Beach, Florida, where the artist lived from 1948 until 1982. The rare palm and sculpture gardens, exhibition galleries and artist’s studio offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience the sculptor’s holistic vision in its intended setting.
MURANO MOSAIC Persistence & Evolution