New exhibition featuring lampworked glass

From 6 May until 8 October 2023, visitors to Germany’s Glasmuseum Lette can see the ‘To be on fire’ exhibition of lampworked glass.

This is the organisers’ third exhibition of lampworking, highlighting the exciting world of lampworked glass from across Europe.

Lampworking is a very old technique, which began to flourish in the sixteenth century, spreading to other countries from Venice in Italy. France, the Netherlands and Germany also became key locations. Today, as in the past, the German centre of lamp-blown glass is the Thuringian Forest, specifically the town of Lauscha.

For a long time, lampworked glass was considered the art of small objects, such as beads, miniatures, ornaments and small vessels. However, since the early 1990s, the technique has been adopted by a new generation of artists. Their enthusiasm for lamp glass is evident in the creative ideas they conceive and the objects they produce. With free, sculptural and sometimes large-format pieces, they are revolutionising lamp glass, opening up new possibilities for modern art.

Nine artists from different European countries have been invited to present their work in the ‘To be on fire’ exhibition. They all share a common technique, yet the world in which each one works tells its own story. The featured artists are: Falk Bauer, André and Rebekka Gutgesell, Krista Israel, James Lethbridge, Susan Liebold, JanHein van Stiphout, Christine Vanoppen and Nataliya Vladychko.

There will also be the opportunity to see work by artists from Glasmuseum Lette’s own collection.

Glasmuseum Lette is at Letter Berg 38, 48653 Coesfeld-Lette, Germany. Website: www.glasmuseum-lette.de

Opening hours: Wednesdays and Saturdays 2-5pm, Sundays 11am-5pm.

Image: Falk Bauer’s ‘Regenbogen-Skarabäus’ (2022). Photo by the artist