Hunterdon Art Museum will open three new exhibitions Sunday, Jan. 24: “Glass in the Expanded Field;” “Architectonic: Bruce Dehnert Sculptural Ceramics;” and “Laura Moriarty: Resurfacing.”
The museum will make its new exhibitions available virtually mid-February as part of its ongoing effort to bring contemporary art to underserved communities and those affected by COVID-19.
A virtual opening for the new exhibitions will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, and can be attended by registering for free through a link on the museum’s website: hunterdonartmuseum.org.
“Glass in the Expanded Field,” curated by Caitlin Vitalo, highlights the complexity and versatility of glass art and the glassmaking community through the work of 17 artists.
In the first half of the 20th century, American glassmaking was limited primarily to factories where workers produced multiples of the same object. Then in the 1960s, the American studio glass movement was born.
Focusing on one of a kind objects that highlighted the unique qualities of glass, the early years of the movement set the tone for creative exploration of the material and its artistic capabilities.
The modern studio glass movement now consists of a diverse grouping of people and perspectives that is the antithesis of the traditional factory production system. Embracing a medium that is defined by opposing terms – hot and cold; liquid and solid; strong and fragile; transparent and opaque – and showcasing work by 17 artists of different backgrounds, “Glass in the Expanded Field” celebrates the complementary nature of opposites.
“Glass in the Expanded Field” is made possible in part by the sponsorship of Basil Bandwagon.
“Architectonic: Bruce Dehnert Sculptural Ceramics,” curated by Ingrid Renard and Hildreth York, focuses on Dehnert’s use of geometries as primary elements where semi-abstracted sculptures are supported on armatures of clay units.
Dehnert has lived, worked, exhibited, curated, and taught in several parts of the world. He is also a master kiln builder, responsible for the rebuilding of the noborigama kiln at Peters Valley School of Craft where he heads the Ceramics Program.
“Laura Moriarty: Resurfacing,” curated by the Hunterdon Art Museum’s Exhibitions Committee, highlights works whose forms, colors, textures and patterns result from processes similar to those that shape and reshape the earth: heating and cooling; erosion; subduction; friction; enfolding; weathering; and slippage. Sculptures and two-dimensional works are included in the exhibition.
The encaustic monotypes featured in this show are an ongoing project of Moriarty’s studio work in which she uses a heated metal plate to erode and shape sculptural paintings, and carefully off-set the trails and spillways left behind onto paper as another way of capturing time.
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