This ordinarymaterial with contrasting propertiesdurable or fragile, conventional orexquisite, opaque or translucent, decorative or functionalallows the artist amultitude of expressive options. Thecurrent exhibition at the Racine Art Museum, “A Glass Act:First Rate Glass from RAM's Collection” (through June 6), celebrates thisimpressive art medium, which developed rapidly when small-scale kilns becameaccessible to studios during the 1960s.
The RAM collectionfeatures numerous pieces from internationally renowned glass artists, includingDale Chihuly, Harvey Littleton, Richard Marquis and Joel Philip Myers.
Marquis' The New Pettijohns isa rainbow-hued array of delicateVenetian shot glasses irreverently empty or filled with reclaimed objects suchas old dice. Juxtaposing the luxurious with the reused heightens one'sawareness to every object in the petite, wall-hung shadow box.
Perhaps two largeglass sculptures in the collection better define the utter contrast andcomplexity of this medium.
On a largeplatform facing the eastern window in the first-floor gallery looms the immenseTopaz Bust in glass and copper byHank Murta Adams. One must closely observe this opaque sculpture with themottled skin and textured surfaces before understanding that glass forms thehead and shoulders. Copper eyes and disheveled strands of hair oxidized into averdant green complement the burnished bronze roughness to a face thatenvisions a creature cut from a bizarre dream, similar to Caliban inShakespeare's Tempest,or a male Medusa. The wild-eyed emotionin this massive visage appears to release a fierce and mysterious force.
Across thegallery, facing the western window and perched on a large rectangular pedestal,Carol Cohen's sculpture Little Comptoncaptures the translucent qualities inherent to glass. The 50 clear, squareslabs, closely layered one behind the other with a tiny space between them,creates a picturesque scene with paint and mixed media applied to the glasssheets.
From all sides,the transparency provides a tranquil reflection on a shoreline landscape,literally and figuratively, with a written text that appears on the sculpture.The text, from poet Sarah Helen Whitman's journal excerpted from the historicalanthology Notes on Little Compton,describes a summer in Seaconnet, R.I.,and amplifies the visual display.
These two superbexamples defy expectations for the medium of glass. And the idea of glass asfine art should only continue to expand with newer technological advancements.The RAM's permanent collection documents this significant art movement withclarity and forward-thinking visioneven if the glass appearing before one'seyes each day goes unnoticed.
