New Acquisitions 2018

A true treasure trove for first-class art this year was the exhibition YOUNG GLASS at the Glasmuseum Ebeltoft in Denmark. This event is held every ten years in the form of an international competition honouring young creative talent. The show has thus become an important point of reference for glass artists all over the world. Works by 57 artists from 18 countries were presented. One of the many stunning objects on view was Bjørn Friborg’s “BBC”, which was awarded the prestigious Finn Lynggaard Preis 2017 at the exhibition. Carrying on the traditional art of glass blowing while taking it to new extremes – this is the balancing act the Danish artist masters brilliantly.

In the famous “Glasriket” (Kingdom of Crystal) in the province of Småland in southern Sweden, Mattias Stenberg impressed us as a true all-rounder, a multi-award-winning artist, designer and architect who also boasts a degree in engineering. Despite a lifelong love of glass, he only made his debut as a glass designer in 2016, with his “Septum” series for Kosta Boda. These highly aesthetic objects, painstakingly produced by means of a prolonged process, stand for Stenberg’s artistic philosophy: clarity in concept, form and material.

The art of glass enjoys a high standing in the south of France as well. In Biot, renowned as a traditional centre for glassmaking, the Pierini family’s glass studio stands out from the rest. Robert Pierini and Alain and Marysa Begou count among the pioneers of glass art, and examples of their work have long since joined the collection of the Glasmuseum Lette. The younger generation is also gifted with creative talent. Antoine Pierini, born in 1980 in Antibes into this distinguished artist family, turns to nature and his Mediterranean cultural heritage for inspiration, as is plain to see from the impressive glass amphorae he calls “Vestiges Contemporains”: “My work invites the viewer to step back in time to the fascinating early years of antiquity; it reinterprets the magic of rituals, objects and symbolic artefacts used by women and men of different cultures all around the Mediterranean Sea.”  

The Foundation was also delighted to make some new discoveries in its own exhibitions during 2018: “Japanese Glass Today” was especially popular, with the extraordinary Japanese aesthetic captivating both us and the visitors alike.

We would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to three exhibitions coming up in 2019: In May we will present an exciting glimpse of the current Hungarian glass scene, in summer we are planning a joint exhibition with the Dutch Academy of Fine Arts to mark the 50th anniversary of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie Amsterdam, and in autumn students from the Glasfachschule Hadamar in Hessen will show their works here for the first time!

Photo above: 

Kelly O´Dell + Raven Skyriver, Biot Nautilus, 2018 (Photo: Glasmuseum Lette)

Photos:

Sachi Fujikake, Vestige II, 2016 (Photo: Sachi Fujikake)

Natsuki Katsukawa, Microworld Specimen, 2016 – „Stanislav Libenský Award 2016“  (Photo: Natsuki Katsukawa)

Nicolas Laty, Glassy Puppy, 2017 (Photo: Glasmuseum Lette)

Jan-Erik Ritzman, Face Arial 1, 2017  (Photo: Glasmuseum Lette)

Mattias Stenberg, Septum Stor F, 2018 (Photo: Kosta Boda/Jonas Lindström)

Björn Friborg, BBC, 2016 – „Finn Lynggaard Preis 2017“ (Photo: Anne Marie Jo)

Antoine Pierini, Vestige Contemporain (VEC1A2), 2017 (Photo: Gaëlle Pierini)

Antoine Brodin, Le Roi des Oiseaux, 2016 (Photo: Antoine Brodin)