PHILADELPHIA- In the main space, Wexler Gallery is honored to present Masterworks, a historic exhibition of museum quality pieces by master glass artists from around the globe. Featured artists will include Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova, Mark Peiser, Marvin Lipofsky, Frantisek Vízner, William Morris, Richard Marquis, Tom Patti, Joel Philip Myers, Dan Dailey and more. The show will run from July 5th through September 28th.

Wexler Gallery will be participating in WheatonArts’ Glass Weekend 2013, which will take place June 7-9th.   Featured artists will include Dan Clayman, Mark Peiser, William Morris, Dan Dailey, Harvey Littleton, and more.  Over the years, Wexler Gallery has earned an international reputation as specialists in secondary market contemporary glass. Serving a wide client base including established collectors seeking specific pieces to enhance their collections, as well as those individuals just beginning to acquire contemporary glass, the gallery collection includes museum quality pieces by master glass artists from around the globe.

WheatonArts’ Glass Weekend 2013

June 7, 8, 9, 2013

1501 Glasstown Road,Millville,NJ08332

(800) 998- 4552

mail@wheatonarts.org

http://www.wheatonarts.org/

Wexler Gallery is excited to announce our participation in Collective.1, a new design fair in New York City that will present a cohesive, curated selection of contemporary design and historical pieces from galleries around the world.  The inaugural edition will coincide with Frieze New York and May auctions.  Our booth will focus on secondary market contemporary glass as well as one-of-a-kind or limited edition furniture designed and created by artists from around the world. Blurring the lines between sculpture, craft, and design, our featured works represent a unique exploration of a variety of materials, processes and concepts. The collection aims to inspire viewers to look at furniture with a new vocabulary and a fresh eye.

Collective.1

Tuesday, May 7       (VIP Private Preview)         2pm to 6pm

(Cocktail Reception)         6pm to 8pm

Show runs Wednesday, May 8 through Saturday, May 11, 2013

Hudson River Park’s Pier 57, West Side Highway at 15th Street, New York, NY

(212) 741-8583

info@collectivedesignfair.com

http://www.collectivedesignfair.com

Daniel Clayman utilizes a vocabulary of simple forms and muted colors to create architectural glass sculptures.  Shifting Scale will feature a selection of new works by the artist, which explore a variation of proportion, ranging from small to large scale.  Although minimalist in aesthetic, Clayman’s pieces are created using a labor-intensive casting method.  This process allows for his medium to take on a foggy and textured quality with a sense of depth, while still maintaining its translucency.  The artist carefully uses light and shadow to accentuate subtle details in the glass, creating the illusion of mass in forms that are often hollow, describing volume in space.

According to the artist:

“Some of the pieces are easily identifiable as vessels and may allude to holding volumes of water. Others are pure abstraction holding only quantities of air and space. By taking away any real solid mass, I am left with just the skins of glass, bronze or graphite that defines a measure of capacity. Other objects are identifiable as a ramp that divides space with a simple line or as a wheel that makes the center volume of air as important as the white structure itself.”

Originally trained as a theater and modern dance lighting designer, Clayman has been involved in the visual and performing arts since the mid 1970’s.  He began “sculpting with light” as a lighting design student and then as a visiting Lighting Designer for the Dance Department at Connecticut College in 1977. In 1983, Clayman enrolled in the Glass Program at the Rhode Island School of Design, embarking on a challenging new artistic path.

Clayman’s work has shown at galleries and museums on a national level.  Recent highlights include solo exhibitions at the Mint Museum of Art and Design in Charlotte, NC and the Fuller Craft Museum in the Brockton, MA.  His work can be found in the permanent collections of esteemed private and public intuitions, including The Museums of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery in Washington,D.C.  Clayman has also given numerous artist demos and lectures at universities and workshops around the country. The artist currently lives and works in Providence,RI.

Fascinated by the notion of challenging the traditional labels that categorize art, Wexler Gallery exhibits work that can coexist in the worlds of design, fine art, decorative art and craft. By questioning and challenging the boundaries of these fields, we aim to present functional and non-functional work that consistently celebrates innovation. Unified by a commitment to excellent craftsmanship and true dedication to their art, we are proud to showcase some of the world’s most esteemed artists working in their areas of pursuit.

The 5,600 square foot gallery opened in 2000 in the historic district ofOldCity,Philadelphia. Since then, the gallery has proudly showcased extraordinary work by both master artists and the emerging talent of today.

PHILADELPHIA- On the second floor, Wexler Gallery will feature an exhibition of new works in painting, collage, and sculpture by Mark Bennion

Over the past 25 years, Mark Bennion has developed a unique painting process, which he likens to “Fresco,” using oil, plaster, and paper on a panel or canvas.  The Fresco technique, a form of mural painting in which pigments are applied directly to wet lime plaster, dates back to prehistoric mans very first paintings on cave walls.  Evolving over time, this process was adopted and developed by many cultures around the world, from Ancient Greece to the Italian Renaissance.

 While Fresco painting is best known for depicting figurative religious or mythological scenes in mural form, Bennion’s work is much different.  His paintings can be characterized as lush, abstract color fields, with a rich surface and a quiet constitution.  According to the artist, “My work has always been about the uncovering of an ancient innocence. It is about a simple geometry that interacts with the changing world that is around us and is within us.”

Bennion’s recent work continues to explore the artist’s interest in simple geometric abstraction, referencing the tradition of “Tantrikas,” abstract anonymous painters who have lived in parts of northern India for the last 500 years.  Characterized by a repetition of markings, “seemingly random yet carefully placed as in poetry,” the artist’s new paintings, collages, and sculptures “invoke the highly symbolic cosmology of Hindu Tantra.”  According to Bennion, these pieces rearrange symbols and “words to convey a new meaning… remembering something from within.”

The artist’s work can be found in numerous private and corporate collections.  He has exhibited both painting and sculptural works across the United States and Canada since 1968.   Highlights include solo exhibitions at the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) in LaConner, WA, and at the International Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA.  The artist currently lives and works on Vashon Island, near Seattle, WA.

Fascinated by the notion of challenging the traditional labels that categorize art, Wexler Gallery exhibits work that can coexist in the worlds of design, fine art, decorative art and craft. By questioning and challenging the boundaries of these fields, we aim to present functional and non-functional work that consistently celebrates innovation. Unified by a commitment to excellent craftsmanship and true dedication to their art, we are proud to showcase some of the world’s most esteemed artists working in their areas of pursuit.

The 5,600 square foot gallery opened in 2000 in the historic district of OldCity, Philadelphia. Since then, the gallery has proudly showcased extraordinary work by both master artists and the emerging talent of today.

PHILADELPHIA- Wexler Gallery will feature New Visions, an exhibition of dynamic sculptural works in glass, metal, and mixed media by Philadelphia based artistsJen Blazina, Amber Cowan, Joanna Manousis, and Stacey Lee Webber.  The show will run March 1- April 27, 2013.  An Opening Reception will take place First Friday, March 1st  from 5 – 8pm.  

Jen Blazina creates mixed media objects and installations, incorporating materials such as cast glass, steel, resin, fabric, and ink.  Reflecting on her own personal history and childhood memories, Blazina draws inspiration from family photographs and belongings that have been passed down to her through generations.  Concentrating on narratives combining self-portraiture and appropriated family snap-shots, Blazina’s work explores concepts regarding memory, the passage of time, and personal moments delineating rites of passage.  According to the artist:

My installations use photographs to create a pathway into the past. These pictures present us with an untouchable place we can only re-visit again through memory… My collections represent a sense of holding onto a place in time. By re-creating these objects through casting and re-fabrication, I recast the history of these objects in as part of my own current voice.

Blazina received her M.F.A. in printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1996, her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in New York in 1991 and her B.F.A., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Purchase College in 1994. Her work has exhibited on a national an international level. Highlighted solo exhibitions include: Garden of Decadence, Pictura, Dordrecht, Netherlands; Oracle, Kunstoffice, Berlin,Germany; and Bittersweet at Scuola di Graphica,Venice,Italy.  She is a currently a professor of fine arts at Drexel University.

Sculptor Amber Cowan works with recycled materials, typically American pressed glass from the 1940′s to the 1980′s.  Using techniques such as flame-working, blowing, and hot-sculpting, Cowan creates beautifully detailed and complex sculptures that references patterns of growth found in nature.  While her pieces may appear floral at first glance, their compositions also reference natural phenomenon, tension, and expansion through viral repetition.  According to Cowan:

“My work involves process driven creation using repetition and manipulation of simple forms. I am interested in creating compositions that are beautifully inviting yet have a corporeal    intangibility that is also repelling. From a distance the evocative form and pallet lure the viewer into treacherous lairs of dangerous beauty.”

Cowan earned an MFA in Glass/Ceramics from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and a BFA in 3-Dimensional Design with a concentration in Glass from Salisbury University.  With over ten years of experience working with glass, Cowan was recently awarded the 2012 International Procter Fellowship at The Australian National University and The Steve Stormer Award from Temple University.  She has lectured at the 2011 International Flameworking Conference at Salem Community College and was a resident artist at The Toledo Museum of Art for the Toledo Workshop Revisited Residency.  Cowan is currently a faculty member of the glass department at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

Stacey Lee Webber is best known for her sculptural work made from altered discarded or rarely used currency.  Taking the form of traditional tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, and saws, the artist’s Craftsmen Series is celebration of the history of American blue-collar labor.  Honoring the working class families which make up the heart of American culture, Webber aims to make art objects that exist as declarations of the importance of the handmade.  According to Webber:

“The Craftsmen Series evokes American iconography and pride in the working class hero.  In contemporary American society, pennies have become nostalgic coins, often discarded and rarely used as currency. Seeing these superfluous coins manipulated with skill and precision into basic workingman’s tools glorifies not only the object, but also the material.”

With an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BFA from Ball State University, Webber’s work can be found in collections across the United States.  Her work has exhibited in group and solo shows on a national level, highlights include exhibits at The Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.  In 2012, the artist was also included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum Remwick Gallery’s exhibition “40 under 40: Craft Futures / American Art.” She presently teaches Metalsmithing at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

British born artist and designer, Joanna Manousis creates narrative works in glass and mixed media that speak of human emotion, memory and the passage of time.  Using the physical nature of glass as a metaphor for the human condition, much of the artists work is reflective, both physically and symbolically.  Her newest body of work, which incorporates taxidermy elements, explores the relationship of between what is reality and what is mimicry.

According to the artist:

“My work captures and animates luminal moments, revealing a world in which objects, beings and places   are interconnected and in flux. I re-appropriate objects that exist in the world as a device to lure and engage a universal audience. Through spatial configuration, context and material I use the  information connected with them as objects to bring about an extended dialogue.”

Holding an MFA in Sculpture from Alfred University, New York, and a BFA from The University of Wolverhampton, England, Manousis has worked, studied and taught in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Manousis earned a Bombay Sapphire Award nomination for ‘Excellence in Glass’ in 2008, as well as the first ‘Hans Godo Frabel Award’ for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Glass’ in 2010. The artist has participated in residencies at The Museum of Art and Design, NYC,Corning Glass Museum, NY and The Cité Internationale des Arts,France.  Her work can be seen in the permanent collections at Ebeltoft Glass Museet, Denmarkand the Cafesjian Center for the Arts,Yerevan, Armenia.

Fascinated by the notion of challenging traditional labels that categorize art, Wexler Gallery exhibits work that can coexist in the worlds of design, fine art, decorative art and craft. By questioning and challenging the boundaries of these fields, we aim to present functional and non-functional work that consistently celebrates innovation. Unified by a commitment to excellent craftsmanship and true dedication to their art, we are proud to showcase some of the world’s most esteemed artists working in their areas of pursuit.

The 5,600 square foot gallery opened in 2000 in the historic district of OldCity,Philadelphia. Since then, the gallery has proudly showcased extraordinary work by both master artists and the emerging talent of today.

Dan Dailey, Philadelphia, Individuals Series, 2011

PHILADELPHIA- This spring, on our 2nd Floor Exhibitions Space, Wexler Gallery is proud to host an exhibition of important Dan Dailey pieces from the artist’s personal archive.  The show will run from March 1- April 27, 2013.  A selection of these works will be included in The University of the Arts’ Art Unleashed 2013 exhibition and sale, which helps raise money to support the University’s Sam S. McKeel Promising Young Artists Scholarship Fund. While Art Unleashed 2013 is on view, Wexler Gallery will donate a percentage of sales from select Dailey works to The University of the Arts.

December 7, 2012 – February 23, 2013

In the main gallery space, Wexler Gallery is proud to present new works by two innovative young designers Philipp Aduatz and Esque Studio.  The show will run from December 7, 2012 through February 23, 2013. An opening reception will take place on First Friday, December 7^th from 5 – 8pm.

Vienna based Designer Philipp Aduatz creates limited edition functional objects that are highly sculptural in nature.  Working with innovative materials and fabrication technologies, Aduatz is very much influenced by scientific matters such as chemistry, physics and material technologies.  His process combines traditional craft concepts and techniques with cutting edge implements such as 3D laser scanning, CNC milling, and Rapid Prototyping.  Greatly influenced by sculptors such as Constantin Brancusi and Tony Cragg, the designer aims to develop a new language of form in each of his pieces, encouraging a new discourse between the object and its user or viewer.

Esque Studio is the result of a 15-year long collaboration between artists Andi Kovel and Justin Parker. Well known for their innovative lighting and design pieces, as well as sculptural objects, the studio aims to create modern, functional, and concept-based glass works. Esque has risen to international acclaim, most notably by the honor of being named part of Time Magazine’s “Design 100,” today’s most influential and inspired international designers. Since then the Portland based studio has designed and completed projects for major collectors and corporate clients including such as Donna Karen, Ralph Lauren, The W Hotel, Hugo Boss, Anthropologie, Sephora, and Design Within Reach.

SOFA Chicago 2012

November 2-4

Navy Pier Festival Hall, Chicago

www.sofaexpo.com

This year, our booth will focus on the interaction of contemporary design with traditional forms of craft.  By showcasing cutting edge design work from a variety of fields along side outstanding pieces by master glass artists, the space will recontextualize the craft object, validating its importance in today’s market place.

Highlighted designers will include innovative talents such as Vivain Beer, Timothy Schreiber, Philipp Aduatz, David Trubridge, and more.  Excellent examples of secondary market glass works by master makers such as William Morris, Stanislav Libensky & Jaroslava Brychtova, Tom Patti, Joel Philip Myers, Mark Peiser, Dan Clayman, and Dale Chihuly will also be on view. 

October 5 – November 30, 2012

In the main gallery space, Wexler Gallery is proud to present Southern Lights, a solo exhibition of recent works by New Zealand based designer David Trubridge. The show will run from October 5 through November 30, 2012.

In correlation with DesignPhiladelphia 2012, Wexler Gallery will host an informal talk with owner Lewis Wexler on Friday, October 12th from 5 – 7pm.  For more info, please visit the following link:

http://events.designphiladelphia.org/event/1615/david-trubridge-southern-lights

Trained naval architect and self-taught woodworker, David Trubridge is a designer and maker whose passion for the environment has been celebrated since the 1970’s.  Well know for his innovative lighting and furniture designs on an international level, Trubridge uses only sustainably grown and treated materials to create one-of-a-kind and limited edition pieces.  Often referencing forms and patterns found in nature, the designer is interested in making work that is both functional and sculptural, telling stories about the natural world and our relationship to it.

According to Trubridge:

“My ideas come from the wild places, edges of turbulence and renewal, where seas break on beaches and headlands, where land and air meet on mountain ridges.  I make forms of elemental simplicity, as the erosion of air and water on wood and stone, forms that speak of humanity’s survival on earth, of life’s fragility and dependence, of comfort in the ways of the past that have succored us, and optimism for a sustainable and enriching future.

I work within the limits of what I have and know, simplicity and low impact, natural materials and processes, leaving a delicate footprint.”

David Trubridge graduated from Newcastle University in Northern England in 1972 with a degree in Naval Architecture (boat design).  In the last few years he has exhibited at 100% Design in London, nine times at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, and four times at ICFF in New York. Other recent highlights include exhibitions at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, as well as important design shows in Zurich, Gwangju (Korea), Taipei, Singapore, Sydney, and Dubai.

His work can be found in numerous public and private collections around the globe, museum collections include the Minneapolis Design Museum, Minneapolis, MN (Glide, acquired in 2011), Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand (Body Raft, acquired in 2004), Auckland Museum, Auckland, New Zealand.  Trubridge’s designs have been featured in countless publications on an international level, from Portugal to Lithuania, Ireland to Taiwan, Iceland to Ukraine, including the influential Italian magazines Abitare, ddn and Interni, plus Time, Wallpaper, I D magazine, and even the Financial Times.  The artist’s writings on design, the environment, and our culture of making have also appeared in a number of design books.  The artist currently lives and works in New Zealand.

Fascinated by the notion of challenging traditional labels that categorize art, Wexler Gallery exhibits work that can coexist in the worlds of design, fine art, decorative art and craft. By questioning and challenging the boundaries of these fields, we aim to present functional and non-functional work that consistently celebrates innovation. Unified by a commitment to excellent craftsmanship and true dedication to their art, we are proud to showcase some of the world’s most esteemed artists working in their areas of pursuit.

The Wexler Gallery is located at 201 North Third Street in the historical district of Old City Philadelphia. We invite you to visit our gallery or explore our website at www.wexlergallery.com.  For high resolution images or additional information, please contact Sienna@wexlergallery.com or call (215) 923-7030.

***