An oblivious form of regional art criticism pretends that the art in question exists on it own, without reference to the larger world. Reminds me of a derisive little ditty on the philosophy of George Berkeley, pronounced Barkley.
Dr. George Berkeley hinted darkly
If I cannot see you, you cannot be you.
A review of Katherine Gray on Culture Monster is an excellent example of the type. It opens with an observation that might have been supportable 30 years ago:
Katherine Gray works in a medium — glass — that rarely takes center stage in a contemporary art gallery not already given over to craft or design.
Onward to description, followed by more description:
The centerpiece of the show, Forest Glass, is an installation
consisting of a pair of free-standing, clear acrylic shelving units,
each roughly 9 feet tall and around the breadth of a coffee table,
loaded with hundreds of mismatched thrift store glasses.
Good idea, stacked glass. Who has done it before? For starters, Tony Cragg, Louise Bourgeois, Dante Marioni, Josiah McElheny and Ann Gardner. Gardner stacked mismatched thrift-store glass in the 1990s, no examples online. All of these artists, by the way, have shown in contemporary art galleries (and museums) not already given over to craft or design.
In the other Washington, DC that is, the Washington Glass School has been taking glass beyond the craftsphere for years now.
Work by my good friend Tim Tate marries glass as just the substrate for video, electronics, miniaturized components, cement, sound and motion detectors to come up with work that is no longer glass, or craft, but a natural 21st century progression of glass.
Because I stand to become immensely wealthy once his prices reach the millions, I’ve been trying for years now to bring his work up to the attention of Pacific NW gallerists, as the PNW is the world’s center for art glass…
But in an odd way, I think a lot of them see his work as a threat to conventional glass, while the non-glass galleries, as soon as they hear the word “glass” shut down before reading on.
With solos in LA, Chicago, Miami, London, Berlin, Santa Fe, St. Louis and many more other cities (including DC of course), other “regular” gallerists see the difference.
Curious…
mmmmm, I don’t see what the problem is???
I’m a glass artist and all work is good why is there a problem with stacking glass?
I’m confused, but maybe thats because I’m a glass artist !!!
There is no problem, modest glass artist. The Culture Monster review made a big deal out of one artist doing it, and I pointed out how common a strategy it is. Problem with the CM review? No context.