It could have been just nine exhilarating and exhausting days: a dozen artists melting glass and twirling blowpipes with the curiosity of 10-year-olds tinkering with a chemistry set. But through a combination of tenacity and serendipity, what happened at a workshop in a garage on the grounds of the Toledo Museum of Art in March 1962 triggered art’s equivalent of a chemical reaction. Fifty years later, we are still feeling its effects.
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In a small studio in Santa Fe, N.M., a modern-day alchemist bends over his worktable. Around him lie piles of twisted sticks, bicycle tires, baling wire, rusted screws and washers, torn canvas, medallions and a few tools. Layer by layer, contemporary sculptor Geoffrey Gorman builds charismatic creatures that, with the final touches, suddenly become “real.”
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The jewelry of Sana Doumet is a study in contrasts. Graceful 18-karat gold tendrils entwine around sturdy shapes of sterling silver. Primeval spirals adorn a contemporary form. Warmth and coldness embrace each other.
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The first thing you notice about Geoffrey Gorman’s sculptures is their size: they are very big. And mesmerizing. And varied. Some of them carry what look like whole boxes of bolts, hooks, screws, washers, keys, nails and wires on their backs.
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Pastellist and encaustic artist Judith Gebhard Smith stands in out front of her Nightwing Studio at the edge of Puget Sound, gazing at the gulls and ravens circling overhead. She knows the formula for encaustic: melt beeswax, add pigment, paint, then fuse. She also knows that she alone must pick up the tools to make her art happen.
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Claes Oldenburg’s “Paint Torch” rises at a 60-degree angle. Two cities in different parts of the country have recently gone for art in a big way. In August, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ Lenfest Plaza in Philadelphia unveiled a new sculpture by 82-year-old artist Claes Oldenburg. The pop sculptor has made a career [...]
Read MoreArdis Butler James. Credit: Geoff Johnson Ardis Butler James, collector, philanthropist and lifelong lover of fabric, died at age 85 on July 7 in Stamford, Conn. Together with her husband, Robert, Mrs. James founded the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1997. The couple donated nearly a thousand quilts, [...]
Read MoreJack and Lisa Frost entertain at Goldenstein Gallery. Credit: Mal Cooper Eating local is a big deal for diners. Could buying local be just as big a deal for art lovers? Owner Linda Goldenstein, of Goldenstein Gallery in Sedona, Ariz., thinks so. The gallery, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has achieved success through its [...]
Read More“Isla” by Cristina Cordova. Credit: Steve Mann Pittsburgh Glass Center’s annual Art on Fire Celebration & Auction Sept. 23 raised $110,000 to benefit its educational programs and exhibitions. More than 400 people snacked on sorbet, milkshakes, pizza, tacos and barbecue during the live and silent auctions. The live auction brought $7,900 for Dante Marioni’s reticello [...]
Read MoreJudy Kensley McKie’s 1994 “Monkey Settee.” Credit: Tom Little OPENINGS & CLOSINGS The James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., will open the Edgar N. Putnam Event Pavilion, a 2,500-square-foot glass structure, in the spring. The pavilion will host exhibition openings, lectures and musical events. The Aspen Art Museum has broken ground for its [...]
Read MoreWhy Quilts Matter airs on PBS. What matters to historians, artists, politicians, anthropologists, collectors, curators, scholars, ordinary folks, small children and, yes, to the people who make them? Quilts, that’s what, and if you don’t see how all these people could be involved, the nine-part television documentary series Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics [...]
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