Exhibitions at the Glass Museum

 

 

From the 1950s onwards Czechoslovakia was a hotbed of modern glass design.  Skilled and experienced designers produced hundreds of colourful and vibrant designs which were exported to the West in their thousands.  Sold as art glass for the home and available on the high street, the designers behind them were rarely named, despite the fact that many are recognised today as masters of 20th century glass design. 

Today, these vases and bowls typically lie un-attributed and forgotten. This exhibition reveals the names and fascinating stories behind these modern designs. 

 

Selected from the Graham Cooley Collection, Hi Sklo Lo Sklo considers the themes behind the innovative masterpieces at the high end of the market, but focuses on how these were translated into designs for the mass market.  This exhibition was previously shown during the King’s Lynn Festival in 2008 and is accompanied by a colour catalogue written by Mark Hill.

 

From the 1930s to the 1960s the glass petrol globe, mounted on top of a petrol pump, was a familiar sight in garages up and down the country.  Used by the petrol companies to advertise their products, the globes were made in distinctive shapes with a company name or logo printed on the outside, and looked their best when illuminated at night.  As pumps were modernised, most globes were destroyed so those that survived are now eagerly sought after by collectors. 

  

The British glass industry underwent huge changes during the 20^th century.  In the early days leading Stourbridge factories employed hundreds of people, but by the turn of this century handmade glass on a factory scale had almost disappeared.  Now the future of creative glass lies chiefly in the hands of the studio glassmakers. 

 

Coinciding with the publication of Charles Hajdamach’s much anticipated book on 20^th Century British Glass, this exhibition provides an overview of the main developments of the last century.  Featuring glass from the Museum’s collection illustrated in the book, the exhibition includes all the key Stourbridge factories and works from other important companies such as Whitefriars, Monart, Dartington and Wedgwood, as well as early examples of studio glass.  

To celebrate its 30^th anniversary, this year’s annual exhibition by the Scottish Glass Society will be touring the country, and the Glass Museum is proud to be the first English venue to host it.  Thirty artists representing established and emerging glass artists in Scotland have been selected by a jury chaired by Professor Dan Klein, glass expert and author.  The works will reflect the theme of migration, which has been a common thread throughout Scottish history. 

 

The selected artists are Karen Akester, Kim Bramley, Nichola Burns, KeeRyong Choi, James Denison-Pender, Junko Eager, Rachel Elliott, Carrie Fertig, Dominic Fondé, Alexander Galloway, Judith Ann Glennie, Siobhan Healy, Kate Henderson, Max Jacquard, Jessamy Kelly, Alison Kinnaird M.B.E., Emma Lindsay, Karen Liversedge, Tanwen Llewelyn, Julia Malle, Eilidh Mackenzie, Rosalynd McKenzie, Denis Mann, Keïko Mukaïdé, Stephen Richard, Alan Robinson, Liz Rowley, Angela Steel, Max Stewart and Jeff Zimmer.