John Kiley: Luminosity

John Kiley Luminosity

John Kiley

Luminosity

presented by the Chihuly Collection Sarasota, Florida February 12 - July 11, 2016

John Kiley coldworking.

Photo by Russell Johnson

Kiley’s carefully edited forms — simple in appearance but complex in skill and thought —are open windows to the universe of glass and a revelation on the beauty of the medium ad its construction.

John Kiley honed his glass-making skills under the tutelage of giants of the field— names like Moore, Chihuly, Marioni, and Tagliapietra. Today, this training feels like prologue in the development of a glass sculptor pushing the medium to dazzling ends. When Kiley ventured on his own he focused on refined forms, transparency, and the essential characteristics of color. His signature technique joins separate hand-blown glass forms together and emphasizes the membrane between them.

Incised cutouts and passageways reveal a multiplicity of perspectives, shapes, and reflections—light in continual flux. Grace is achieved through the dichotomy between a whole and its parts, internal and external looking, and positive and negative space.

Today, the basic architecture of Kiley’s sculpture has remained essentially unchanged. Being an artist is about repetition, but also about pushing ones creative process within a specific style. Much like life, an artist progresses and matures but is always fundamentally himself. From this cardinal place, much has evolved in Kiley’s work.

Through the clarity of glass, Kiley exposed his remarkable interiors through equally resplendent, and multi-layered transparent exteriors. Incorporating a third color draws even more attention to the membrane and opens even more avenues for the optical interplay of color, light, and reflection. In Skagit Halo on page 4, an elegant yellow ring is poised between fiery crimson and cool amethyst, pulling the viewer through the open circle and into its orbit.

Even more dramatically, Kiley has expanded his lexicon of cutaways, which in turn has enhanced the combination of arcs and curves the artist can achieve. Twisting Overlap (page 10) turns a simple sphere into an evolving geometric landscape of shapes depending on the viewpoint. A sculpture comprised of only two colors becomes a kaleidoscope, overlapping combinations of hues occurring as one twists around the sculpture.

Another evolution in Kiley’s oeuvre is the juxtaposition of several works together, whether stacked, wall-mounted, or hanging from the ceiling. If a single sculpture appears to balance impossibly on a precarious edge, the feat of three sculptures stacked one atop another without any adhesive defies the laws of physics. Stacked Trio celebrates many facets of vintage Kiley—clear and red glass segments cut and fused together with a single membrane. However, the totemic assemblage of three works in a single, breathtaking piece exponentially increases their visual impact with a unique relationship to negative space, expanded reflections and shadows, multiplied and shifting contours, and heightened depth of color.

Ever since childhood, Kiley has been intrigued by the idea of creating a perfect object then breaking it. When Kiley blows a flawless sphere of glass, then saws out large sections, flattens it against another sphere, and contours it in the cold working phase, he is satisfying that urge. But he is also consummating a heightened level of perfection. A wonderful tension emerges between the act of deconstruction, the process of reconstruction, and the result of visual transcendence.

Jeanne Koles is an independent museum professional with a focus on cultural communications.

Intersected Vertical Overlap, 2011, 25 x 12 x 12” 6

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Edgewater, 2015, 11 x 11 x 11”

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Skagit Halo, 2015, 17 x 13.5 x 13�

Kiley not only questions which is more beautiful—the whole or its parts, the inside or the outside, negative or positive space, the light, the shadow, or the reflection—but posits that it is the interaction of all of these characteristics that results in the beautiful sum.

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Storm Division, 2015, 12.5 x 12.5 x 13�

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Violet and Citron Curve, 2014, 12.5 x 13 x 13�

By deconstructing the form and externalizing its inner parts, Kiley challenges the traditional view of beauty as that which is pristine and complete.

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Twisting Overlap, 2014, 14 x 12.5 x 13�

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Curling Open Halo, 2015, 14 x 12 x 13�

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Candy Shadow, 2014, 13 x 11 x 11.5” 14

Banner Shadow, 2014, 14 x 13.5 x 12�

The experience of viewing these opaque pieces emphasizes how visual perception is affected by how we occupy space.

As we move around the sculpture we experience a lunar-like waxing and waning of the circle and a subsequent shifting of the shadows created inside.

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Crescent, 2012, 13.25 x 13 x 10�

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Stratus, 2013, 18 x 14 x 15�

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Aqua Corona, 2015, 9 x 8 x 13�

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Kiley torching a blown sculpture.

Photo by Russell Johnson

“Constantly, I ask myself the question why do I choose to work with glass? Transparency, optics, the physical challenge, or a primal fascination with fire, are valid reasons that many glass objects are created. For me, it is important that these material attributes work in service of the sculpture, rather than be the reason for the sculpture. I am drawn to how glass, and its perceived delicacy and preciosity, can create a sense of tension, concern and longing in the viewer (and myself). The final decision I make before a piece is complete is how it will be situated. During this final step, there is a moment when I don’t known for sure if it will survive or lie broken on the studio floor. It is in this final step that each piece finds its own unique balance; it is in this moment that the sculpture emerges and comes to life.”

SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Museum Of Glass, Tacoma, WA · The Shanghai Museum of Glass, Shanghai, China · Sandy Baklor & Arlene Kaufman · Al Berger & Carol Auerbach · Jeffrey Bronfman · The Kaplan/Ostergaard Collection · Frank Everett · Sir Elton John · Perry Farrell · Jim Flaws and Marcia Weber · Snohomish County · The Seven Bridges Foundation · Emirates Airlines · Fly Dubai Airlines · Qatar Airlines

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Golden Roller, 2015, 12.5 x 8 x 13�

This exhibition is made possible by the Chihuly Collection.

400 Beach Drive NE St. Petersburg, FL 33701 10AM to 5PM Monday - Saturday 12PM-5PM Sunday 727.896.4527 Photography: Jeff Curtis: artwork photos Russell Johnson: portraits of the artist Essay: Jeanne Koles Published by: Schantz Galleries Stockbridge, Ma (413) 298-3044 www.schantzgalleries.com Š all images are property of the artist.

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