[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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