There's a new glass exhibit at the Farnsworth, and it's more than meets the eye 

by Marylin Taylor
Coastal Journal contributor

One of three blown glass birds by artist Robin Cass at the Farnsworth.

ROCKLAND--That childhood memory came rushing into my head as I walked into the glass exhibit currently at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland.  It’s not that the art is childish; quite the contrary.  It is magnificently sophisticated and beautiful. But that freedom, anticipation, creativity and dreaminess that went along with the bubble-blowing experience are manifested in these masterpieces.

When I knew I was going to review the Gathering of Contemporary Glass: Artists from Haystack and Pilchuck show, I was expecting lovely plates and vases.  But I never dreamed I would be treated to such visually stimulating and enticing works of art.

The first pieces I saw were Revealing in Red: Making Before Meaning and Found in Form by Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick. These consist of two large, clear blown glass cylinders with big glass paint brushes in them. Since the pieces are 70” tall, they give one a Magritte sense of looking (and thinking) way outside the box. I knew I was in for an enjoyable visual adventure.

The next creation to capture my attention was a magnificent piece 44” high called Dinosaur by Lino Tagliapietra. This large, but at the same time delicate vertical piece combines clear blown glass with perfectly formed black parallel patterns.  Its loveliness is overwhelming, something you notice long before you try to figure out how on earth the artist created it. There are other Tagliapietra pieces featuring these beautiful line patterns including the multi-colored Bilbao and the white patterned Hopi.

I would have been impressed if the exhibit had ended there.  But it continues for three more rooms of surprises.
In the next room, I loved Dan Dailey’s Black Hawk and Jack Rabbit (exactly what the names imply---but made of blown and Vitrolite glass!); and Alto and Basso, a glass sculpture in three sections, bookended with nickel and gold plated bronze figures of a man and woman. Also in this room is Dante Marioni’s Reticello Acorn, an acorn about the size of a football made with a 400 year-old Venetian technique using crossing cane patterns with air bubbles at each intersection. Truly impressive.  Marioni’s stately Not So Red Pair  are also not to be missed.

Other standouts for me included three blown glass birds by Robin Cass called Episode, Linkage and Fruition.  The delicacy and unusual form of these pieces are breathtaking. And Richard Royal’s blown and olive cut lead crystal piece Olivine left me in awe.

There are so many unexpected and exceptional pieces of art in this exhibit that I certainly can’t mention them all. But seeing them in person is an experience I encourage you not to miss.

How I would LOVE to have taken any one of these works home with me. None of the pieces have price tags though; my guess is there would be too many zeroes to fit on the museum-sized cards. But these spectacular artists have given us mere mortals the opportunity to experience their visions.

Many of these works of art are owned by Chris Rifkin.  I would sure love to be a guest at this person’s house.  It must be a museum in itself.

At least as a fall-back position, I think I’ll go out and buy some bubble-blowing solution for our grandchildren!