#CulturedPeachy #WashingtonDCPeachy @Smithsonian Now Open at the Renwick Gallery: "New Glass Now"
Global Survey of Contemporary Glass Art Challenges Traditional Conceptions of Glass and Introduces New Perspectives
"New Glass Now" offers a global survey highlighting the innovation shown by a dynamic selection of makers. Embracing the possibilities of glass as a vital and versatile medium, the featured artists challenge the status quo and represent a modern era in glassmaking full of new voices, visions and representation.
On view at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum through March 6, 2022, the exhibition features a range of objects, installations, videos and performances by 50 artists working in more than 23 countries. "New Glass Now" highlights historically underrepresented communities within the glass world, including LGBTQ+ artists, people of color and women. These makers respond to the complexities of the contemporary world through timely political commentary and explorations of the intersection between technology and creative culture. Their work challenges the very notion of what the material of glass is and what it can do.
“New Glass Now” features American artists including James Akers, Miya Ando, Dylan Brams, David Colton, Deborah Czeresko, Nickolaus Fruin, Sharyn O’Mara, Suzanne Peck, Austin Stern, Megan Stelljes, C. Matthew Szösz, Bohyun Yoon. The exhibition also features artworks by Tamás Ábel (Hungary), Kate Baker (Australia), Maria Bang Espersen (Denmark), Monica Bonvicini (Italy), Doris Darling (Austria), Nadege Desgenetez (France), Karen Donnellan (Ireland), Choi Keeryong (United Kingdom), Jitka Kolbe-Růžičková (Czech Republic), James Magagula (Kingdom of Eswatini), Fredrik Nielsen (Sweden), Aya Oki (Japan), Wang Qin (China), and Sylvie Vandehoucke (Belgium).
Visit the museum's website for the latest information relating to "New Glass Now" including blog posts, an image gallery and more.
Free Public Programs for your Listings
Virtual Artist Talk with Deborah Czeresko: Venetian Glass, Then and Now
Thursday, November 4, at 7 p.m. ET
Discover how nineteenth-century Venetian glass blowing techniques are used today to create innovative contemporary artwork. Join Deborah Czeresko, one of the featured artists in New Glass Now, on view at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery, for an exciting virtual conversation with Mary Savig, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery. A focus of their discussion will be Czeresko’s iconic Meat Chandelier and how the methods of glass blowing she employs have developed over centuries. This program also highlights artworks from Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano, currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s main building.
Location: Online
Tickets: Free | Registration Required via Eventbrite
Virtual Glassmaking Demonstration with Megan Stelljes
Friday, December 10, at 7 p.m. ET
Join Megan Stelljes, one of the featured artists in New Glass Now, on view at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery,for a behind-the-scenes look at how glass and neon artworks are made. This exciting virtual studio visit and artmaking demonstration will take place at the state-of-the-art hot shop at The Corning Museum of Glass. Learn how Stelljes creates edgy and provocative neon and sculpted glasswork. Enjoy this rare up-close-and-personal look at how glasswork is made and participate in an interactive question and answer session with Stelljes, Mary Savig, the Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery, and staff from The Corning Museum of Glass.
Location: Online
Tickets: Free | Registration Required via Eventbrite
In March 2022, artists Suzanne Peck and Karen Donnellan, creators of “Exhale with Vigor,” discuss gender and sexuality equity within the field of glassblowing in a virtual conversation. Information about speakers and registration for these programs will be available on the museum’s website as details are confirmed.
Credit
“New Glass Now” is organized by The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York. The presentation at the Renwick Gallery is made possible by generous support from the Alturas Foundation, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, Crown Equipment Exhibitions Endowment and Jacqueline B. Mars.
Related Exhibition
“Sargent, Whistler and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano” is on view from Oct. 8 through May 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s main building, located at Eighth and G streets N.W. The exhibition explores the Venetian glass revival of the late 19th century and the artistic experimentation the city inspired for visiting artists such as John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler. Featuring more than 140 objects, including a selection of rarely seen glass vessels presented alongside paintings, watercolors and prints, it is the first comprehensive examination of American tourism, artmaking and art collecting in Venice, revealing the glass furnaces and their new creative boom as a vibrant facet of the city’s allure.
Planning a Visit to the Museum
The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum is open with a reduced weekly schedule and health and safety measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visitors are advised to consult the museum’s website for up-to-date guidance about current policies, operating hours and requirements for face coverings.
About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal America’s rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. The museum’s main building is located at Eighth and G streets N.W., above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station and is open 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Its Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to craft and decorative arts, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. and is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Website: americanart.si.edu.
Image Credit:
Installation photography of New Glass Now, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2021, Courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum; Photos by Albert Ting.
