[PA-NJ Glassblowers] Corning Museum of Glass unveils 2008 Rakow Commission by Zora Palova

Tony Patti gaffer at glassblower.info
Fri Oct 31 20:29:24 EDT 2008


The idea of cold frozen water (ice) inspiring glass art, really 
resonates with me.

Even though, we might consider the molten glass of a Hot Shop to be at 
the opposite end of the temperature spectrum!

In English, I think it is no accident that /glacier /and /glass/ have 
similar spellings/pronunciations.
Starting with the gl- prefix indicating sheen and smoothness, which we 
also see in other words such as
glitter, glow, gleam, glimmer, glisten.

Tony Patti
www.glassblower.info
gaffer at glassblower.info

 


  *Corning* Museum of Glass Unveils 2008 Rakow Commission by Zora Palová


  * *


    */Corning/*, NY -- The Corning Museum of Glass has unveiled its 2008
    Rakow Commission: North Sea Waves by Slovak artist Zora Palová. The
    large, cast glass sculpture, now on display in the Museum's Ben W.
    Heineman Sr. Family Gallery of Contemporary Glass, evokes the
    mystery and power of the North Sea, which Palová observed while
    teaching at the University of Sunderland in England.

"In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, we don't have seas," Palová 
explains. "I didn't know how to express the feeling of the sea and the 
air surrounding it."

 

Palová is inspired by the idea of water and its expression in glass. Her 
interpretation of the cold and unpredictable sea is strong, emotional, 
and gestural: /North Sea Waves  /is a massive sculpture that combines 
thick slabs with fragile, undulating edges. The modulated color reflects 
the range of grays found in the water and sky on North Sea shores.  

 

"There are many reasons why the Museum chose Zora Palová for the 2008 
Rakow Commission," says Tina Oldknow, curator of modern glass at The 
Corning Museum of Glass. "Over the past five years, her sculptures have 
developed in concept and scale, and her exhibitions and teaching have 
brought attention to artists working in glass in Slovakia, who are not 
as well known or as numerous as artists in the Czech Republic.

Palová's approach to cast glass sculpture is perhaps characteristic of 
her generation, which draws from---and breaks with---the ideas developed 
by the famous Czechoslovak artists of the postwar era, such as Vaclav 
Cigler, Stanislav Libenský, and Jaroslava Brychtová."

 

Palová studied painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in 
Bratislava from 1969 to 1971. In 1971, she moved to the Academy's 
department of Glass in Architecture, where she continued her studies 
until 1975 with the well-known Czech glass sculptor Václav Cigler. After 
20 years of working independently while she raised a family, she was 
appointed in 1996 as a research professor, teaching glass sculpture at 
the University of Sunderland in England. In 2003, she left full-time 
teaching to devote herself to her sculptural work, which includes 
individual objects as well as architectural commissions. Palová makes 
her work with the assistance of her husband, the Slovak sculptor ©tìpán 
Pala, who is internationally known for his large-scale works in cast glass.

 

Inaugurated in 1986, the Rakow Commission supports new works of art in 
glass by encouraging artists to venture into new areas that they might 
otherwise be unable to explore because of financial limitations. Each 
commissioned work is added to the Museum's collection and is displayed 
publicly for the first time during the Museum's annual Seminar. Palová's 
/North Sea Waves /was unveiled October 17, 2008, following a public 
lecture by the artist (which will be available for view on the Museum's 
website, www.cmog.org <http://www.cmog.org/>, after November 5, 2008.)

Each year the Museum awards the Rakow Commission to an emerging or 
established artist working in glass.  Currently, the commission is 
awarded to professional artists whose work is not yet represented in the 
Museum's collection. It is made possible through the generosity of the 
late Dr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Rakow, Fellows, friends, and benefactors of 
the Museum.  

 

* *

*About The Corning Museum of Glass*

* *

The Corning Museum of Glass is home to the world's most comprehensive 
collection of glass.  Spanning the globe and encompassing more than 
3,500 years of human ingenuity, the collection includes masterpieces 
from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; the great civilizations of Islam, 
Asia, Europe, and the Americas; and the range of artistic and studio 
glass movements beginning in the late 19^th century and extending to the 
present day. The Museum's interactive scientific and technological 
installations tell the story of historic advancements and contemporary 
innovations in glass technology. Live glassblowing demonstrations and a 
state-of-the-art glassmaking studio bring the material to life, and Make 
Your Own Glass workshops allow visitors to create their own work. An 
Artist-in-Residence program gives six artists annually the opportunity 
to expand their work and to master new techniques. The Museum also 
houses the Rakow Research Library, the world's foremost archive and 
reference collection on the history of glassmaking. A center for 
scholarship, the Museum also publishes monographs, exhibition 
catalogues, and periodicals such as /New Glass Review/ and /Journal of 
Glass Studies/.

 

Nestled in the heart of the Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State, 
the Museum is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m. to 8:00 
p.m. in the summer). Kids and teens 19 and under receive free admission. 
The Corning Museum of Glass is conveniently located directly off Exit 46 
on I-86/Rte. 17. Corning, NY, is four hours north of New York City, two 
hours south of Buffalo and six hours north of Washington, D.C.

 

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