Richard Marquis Dante Marioni Preston Singletary POP, CLASSICAL, and NATIVE CULTURES IN GLASS Schantz Galleries Autumn 2016
The interconnectedness of Richard Marquis, Dante Marioni, and Preston Singletary, cultivated throughout the years, has not created a vacuum of homogeneity in glass. Rather, as these three distinct artists demonstrate, the community of glass has given each individual the means of cultivating his gift in all directions.
Richard Marquis Dante Marioni Preston Singletary
SCHANTZ GALLERIES September 2 - October 4, 2016
elm street, stockbridge, ma
(413) 298-3044
www.schantzgalleries.com
Richard Marquis, Salt Shaker Trophy, 2015
Blown glass; ganulare and murrine techniques found objects, 15.5 x 8 x 8"
Pop, Classical and Native Cultures in Glass (Three Old Friends) Richard Marquis, Dante Marioni & Preston Singletary With over 50 years of experience and a sophisticated understanding of material, color, and form, Richard Marquis balances his training and scrupulous artistic integrity with the playfulness and capacious spirit of an upstart, full of original notions just waiting to burst out in creative action. Simultaneously ironic yet refined, silly yet smart, eclectic yet recognizable, Marquis is nothing if not totally, authentically himself. In part, Marquis’ style emerged from 1960s California funk (he got his B.A. and M.A. from U.C. Berkeley), a countermovement to east coast Minimalism fusing, among other things, popculture, a cartoon aesthetic, and the use of found objects. Everyday items feature predominantly in Marquis’ art—most culled from his extensive personal collections, some the detritus of various other projects he has undertaken building, remodeling, and fixing things. Lusterware bird salt shakers (interestingly, Marquis got his early training in ceramics) become the handles and crest of Salt Shaker Trophy, the base and body of which are blown glass using different examples of Marquis’ signature murrine technique. Marquis’ gift for elevating the everyday is achieved when the quirky vintage bird salt shaker becomes a symbol of triumph. His Granulare Teapot with Shark Cone is a witty riff on utilitarian ceramics, a gourd-like base of blue and clear glass (here the two colors cool at different rates, resulting in the bumpy texture) supports a non-functional teapot, which is crowned with a shark-fin protuberance decorated with animal- and geometric-shaped murrini.
Richard Marquis, Granulare Elephant and Cup Box Roses, 2015
Blown glass: granulare technique, sheet glass, wood, paint and found object 10.75 x 14.25 x 6"
Granulare Elephant and Cup Box Roses is a masterful combination— playing with found objects (a paint-by-numbers backdrop), highlighting intricate murrini work (the eyeball of the elephant even contains a tiny cat), juxtaposing the everyday (teacups) and the artistic (fine art glass). Myriad elements are grouped, then enveloped in a painted glass box like a modern-day cabinet of curiosity. This work embodies something Marquis refers to as the “Whole Elk Theory,” by which those who kill an elk are obliged to use the entire thing and not let a single part go to waste. Marquis explains that this is how he runs his hotshop, that “…all the cane, things that hit the floor, and all the bits and pieces that come out of the annealer, are never thrown away but go into boxes with semi-legible labels that I find years later and incorporate into my other work.” Is the amorphous shape on the left a previous failure that is given new life, standing astride the elephant, itself a symbol of strength, longevity, and loyalty?
Richard Marquis, Granulare Teapot with Shark Cone, 2016 Blown glass; granulare and murrine techniques 12 x 7 x 7"
Dante Marioni, White Reticello Leaf, 2004 Blown glass, 27 x 11 x 7"
Dante Marioni, Green & Purple Z Leaf, (detail) 2014 Blown Glass 32 x 10.5 x 3"
Dante Marioni (the son of glass artist, Paul Marioni), grew up in the thick of the studio art glass movement and first met Marquis when he was 7. When Marioni got into glass as a teen, he felt disconnected with what he called the “loose and free-form” aesthetic that characterized the movement in the 1970s. He has said that “over the course of my career I have been consumed mostly with forms—that is, making interesting shapes. As a glass blower, I have always considered that to be my primary challenge.” Meeting Lino Tagliapietra at Pilchuck early in his career gave Marioni a classical education in blowing glass. His technical mastery is on display in his elegant, stylized forms—slim-necked vases, handsome, lobed gourds, and slender, attenuated leaves—often influenced by ancient Greek, Etruscan, and African archetypes. His African Gourds pieces are a modern and sleek take on a conventional form, the bright cane ornamentation merely hinting at traditional design.
Stunning cane patterning adorns Marioni’s vases, simplicity and symmetry achieved through great prowess. Marioni explains that “of late, I have been consumed with making patterns. An early influence is the laminated birch wood objects that Tapio Wirkkala produced starting in the 1950s.” Precise and balanced markings result in stylized interpretations of objects, such as in his Avventurine Leaf Vessel. Here, some of the cane is made from avventurine glass given to him by Lino Tagliapietra. From the Italian for ‘adventure,’ avventurine is a centuriesold glass-making technique by which metal is incorporated into the molten glass, resulting in shimmery gold suspensions. In Marioni’s vase, the lustrous liquid gold radiates beside obsidian counterpoints.
Dante Marioni, Avventurine Leaf, 2015 Blown glass, 21.75 x 12 x 2.5"
Some recent work veers, by degrees, from Marioni’s signature linear perfection. In Red Leaf, the artist experiments with placing the cane in a grooved mold that twists the glass and causes waviness. With restraint, minimalism, and a hint of caprice, the crimson-veined Red Leaf undulates with ambers and ochres, rendering the essence of an autumn leaf in a brilliant work of art. Of his Leaf works, he says, “I continue to explore the possibilities of using glass canes to create my own version of a Leaf. I am more enamored with the idea of creating a Leaf that references the decorative arts than an actual leaf as it exists in nature.”
Dante Marioni, African Gourd, 2013, Blown glass, 27 x 12 x 3"
Preston Singletary, Blue Tooth, 2016
Blown and sand carved glass, 27 x 7.5 x 3"
Preston Singletary, Natures Gift, 2016
Blown and sand carved glass, 23 x 11 x 3.5"
Stylized representations of nature are as much a purview of native as they are of decorative art. Preston Singletary uses glass as a means of understanding, and sharing, his Tlingit heritage in the context of modern society. He explains that he compares “my current notion of society with that of my ancestors, intuiting ideas and concepts in glass, referencing my connection to my Tribe, my clan and my family. My influences range from Indigenous art around the world to the glassblowing process, modernist sculpture, design and music.” Though he considered a career in music, he realized that glass-making gave him a purpose and a responsibility, to “interpret the codes and symbols of the land in a new way.” Narrative is of equal value to process and form, as Singletary recounts Tlingit legends for modern audiences in an original, yet accessible, way. The profound azure Blue Tooth converts the spare and sculptural form of a bear’s tooth into a monumental amulet decorated with images of man and raven.
The raven, an important symbol for Northwest Native people, is considered the Creator’s assistant, capable of transforming himself into anything and responsible for supplying the rivers with fish and putting the sun in the sky. Salmon are also revered in native legend as people with superhuman abilities and eternal life (as well as being a source of nutrition). Nature’s Gift endows the animal with the respect it deserves. Blown glass is exquisitely shaped with metal tongs and tools, the surface decoration exalted with incandescent gold leaf. Form, design, and color coalesce magnificently with Singletary’s cylindrical Shelf Baskets. Tlingit baskets, made of spruce root, are renowned for their bold geometric design, warm earthy coloration, and abstract designs depicting flora such as leaves and fronds, and fauna such as animal teeth, butterfly wings, avian tails, and birds flying in formation. Singletary deftly mimics the warp and weft of a woven basket by meticulously sandblasting a grid pattern on the surface of the glass, then layers on geometric patterns reminiscent of the natural baskets. Lush blue-green pairs with ochre and umber, maize yellow is complimented with bold red; indigo blue is offset by ivory. The unique cultures of the Pacific Northwest, both past and present, encourage friendship, a sharing of ideas, and cooperative efforts. This is certainly true of Richard Marquis, Dante Marioni, and Preston Singletary. From pop to classical to native, from murrini to cane to sandblasting, from witty to refined to narrative, Marquis, Marioni, and Singletary demonstrate the endless possibilities when the creative mind meets molten glass and fire. Jeanne Koles is an independent museum professional with a focus on cultural communications. Preston Singletary, Supernatural Being, 2016 Blown and sand carved glass, 13 x 12"
Richard Marquis
Richard Marquis, Silhouette Sample Box, 2000
Glass: hot slab construction, cast glass, wood, brass, 7 3/8 x 5 3/4 x 1 1/4"
Richard Marquis, Whole Elk Tower with Manikins, 2015
Blown glass, murrine whole elk technique, found objects, 17.5 x 19 x 13"
Richard Marquis, Wedding Cake, 2016
Glass: hot slab construction, blown glass dome, found objects, 13.5 x 11 x 11"
Richard Marquis, Granulare Teapot with Old Crow, 2016
Blown glass, granulare and spun glass techniques, wood, plate glass, found objects, paint, 12.5 x 16.25 x 3 "
Richard Marquis, Luster Bird with Green and Pink Cylinder, 2016 Blown glass: granulare technique, found object, 8.25 x 8.5 x 5.25"
Richard Marquis, Kingfisher on Cartoon Teapot Car, 2013 Blown glass, granulare technique, wood, brass, 9 x 12.5 x 7"
Dante Marioni
Dante Marioni, Purple Leaf Vessel, 2016 Blown glass, 42.5 x 10.75 x 3 "
Dante Marioni, Red Leaf, 2016, Blown glass 28 x 10.25 x 2.5"; Blue Leaf, 2016, 35.25 x 9.5 x 2.5”; Purple Leaf, 2016, 42.5 x 10.75 x 3 “; Green Blue Leaf, 2016, 33.25 x 11.25 x 3.25 “; Green Yellow Leaf, 2016, 39.25 x 11.5 x 3.75 “
Dante Marioni, Green & Purple Z Leaf, 2014 Blown Glass 32 x 10.5 x 3"
Dante Marioni, Green African Gourd, 2016
Blown glass, 26.25 x 10.5 x 3.25"
Preston Singletary
Preston Singletary, Feather, 2016
Blown and sand carved glass, 19 x 3.25 x1"
Preston Singletary, Pointing to the Sky, 2014 Blown and sand carved glass, 22.75 x 8 x 5"
Preston Singletary, Journey Across the Fire, 2016
Blown and sand carved glass, 28 x 12 x 6"
Preston Singletary, Sky Chief Rattle, 2013 Blown and sand carved glass, 16 x 7 x 7.5"
Preston Singletary, Swan Rattle, 2015
Blown and sand carved glass, 21 x 12.5 x 5.5"
Preston Singletary, Thunderbird 2013
Blown and sand carved glass, 18.5 x 16.5 x 3"
Preston Singletary, Travels the Oceans, 2014 Blown and sand carved glass, 15 x 20 x 10"
Richard Marquis Dante Marioni Preston Singletary Photo Credits: Richard Marquis, Kim Saul, Russell Johnson Essay: Jeanne Koles Design: Silver City Design Richard Marquis, Dante Marioni, Preston Singletary | Schantz Galleries | Autumn 2016
© Schantz Galleries, 2016 Elm Street, Stockbridge, MA 01262 (413) 298-3044 www.schantzgalleries.com Back Cover: Preston Singletary, Tlingit Shelf Baskets, 2015 Blown and sand carved glass, 8 x 9.25 x 9.25”; 8.5 x 8.75 x 8.75”; 8.5 x 8.75 x 8.75"
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