Cold! exhibition celebrates art glass made with coldworking processes

An exhibition focused on glass art finished using different coldworking techniques is on display at The Glass Museum Lette in Germany from 27 August 2022.

Once cast or blown glass has cooled down, it can be technically processed further at room temperature using methods such as cutting, grinding, polishing, engraving, etching, laminating, bonding, sandblasting, wiring and painting.

A selection of glass showcasing these techniques is on view now at the Glass Museum Lette. Some of the pieces are on loan from artists, while others come from the museum’s collection. Viewed together, they draw attention to the multi-faceted and diverse possibilities of coldworked glass.

Among the featured artists is Marta Klonowska, who has gained recognition on the international art market over the years with her unique animal sculptures and installations (see main image). Based on motifs in old master paintings, Klonowska’s naturalistic animals and figures use metal armatures onto which she assembles countless precisely-cut shards and rods of coloured glass. The museum explains, “As if by magic, the cold, rigid glass is transformed into soft, lifelike bodies, putting creatures in the spotlight that are otherwise mere extras in the venerable paintings.”

Meanwhile, Josepha Gasch-Muche uses coldworking to create iridescent murals and three-dimensional objects made of splintered glass. To make them she breaks apart paper-thin, irregularly formed display glass and then layers the splinters over and next to each other, gluing them together invisibly. They appear to move and change depending on the angle of incidence or strength of the light and the position of the viewer.

Cuban artist Carlos Marcoleta works in diverse fields, including glass. He layers custom-cut pieces of satin-finished float glass to form a structure, an inversion of positive and negative form, for example in the portrait of a woman who seems to be trying to free herself from inside the glass panes. Marcoleta’s work continually changes its appearance with the viewing angle, allowing the observer to explore ‘Mujer 2’ layer by layer.

The exhibition opens on 27 August 2022 and runs until 15 January 2023. The Museum is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2-5pm and on Sundays from 11am-5pm.

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

Main image: King Charles Spaniel by Marta Klonowska. Photo: Artur Gawlikowski, Galerie lorch+seidel contemporary.