Michael Taylor: Particles: Something Out of Nothing Opens at Alfstad& Contemporary
Kickoff Event of the 2016 Art Glass Weekend, Sarasota, Florida
SARASOTA, FL -- Alfstad& Contemporary presents Particles: Something Out of Nothing, the first solo show in Sarasota for the acclaimed glass artist, Michael Taylor. Recognized by his peers in the world of glass as one of the most innovative artists and educators at work today, Taylor is renowned for his unique geometric fused-glass sculptures.
Open to the public, Michael Taylor’s exhibition kicks off the 2nd Annual Art Glass Weekend in Sarasota. His distinctive work features 10 new cold-cut pieces, along with 5 formerly displayed works, and 10 digital prints created in collaboration with Alfstad& Contemporary. The Opening Night Reception for Particles: Something Out of Nothing – with the artist in attendance – is Thursday evening, January 28 and the exhibition runs through February 26.
The 2nd Annual Art Glass Weekend in Sarasota, a collaboration of Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a division of Ringling College, and Habitat Galleries of Michigan, is designed to excite seasoned collectors as well as anyone who enjoys the medium of glass. The weekend highlight is “Masterworks: An International Glass Auction” on Friday, Jan 29, as well as tours of art collectors’ homes, glass artists talks and gallery visits in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.
“Last year, American Art Collector magazine named Sarasota as the “new art glass mecca,” and Michael Taylor’s show at Alfstad& Contemporary and the Art Glass Weekend in Sarasota confirm that title,” says Sam Alfstad. “Anyone visiting Michael’s exhibition will be mesmerized by the intricate detail and deep, rich colors of His work. His creations are not merely great glass art – his work is art of the highest quality, rivaling contemporary bronze and oil works in its striking beauty and relevance to modern life.”
As a pioneer of glass art, Taylor was instrumental in moving glass beyond craft to become a true means of artistic expression. He integrated colored blocks of cast glass together to produce complex, interlocking geometric variations, the "cold-glass" technique. His sculptural pieces distribute rays of light to create colorful plays and subtle nuances of refractions and reflections.
”I am an artist, and I don’t think of myself as anything else. I approach my creations – my compositions – in different ways than others in my field,” says Taylor. “The historical perspective of Constructivism and Modernism taught me structure. But, like a singer during a performance, the metamorphosis of creativity constantly changes and refines the process.”
Most glass artists are interested in the structural outside of the pieces they create, but Taylor is the opposite. He starts with individual glass blocks, which he views as “mini-compositions” needing design, color and shape to function as a whole, and then combines them to achieve structural integrity married with a dazzling and constantly-changing variety of light
Glass has profound symbolic associations for Taylor. “I use specific color to create a mood, communicate an idea or encourage observation,” he says. “The science and chemistry of glass plays a part in making these choices. I know how unstable certain glasses are, how they can change color when they are heated, cooled and reheated. I know that some glasses literally – and dramatically – change color in transmitted and reflective light.”
Alfstad& Backspace Opens
For Michael Taylor: Particles: Something Out of Nothing, Alfstad& Contemporary has renovated a new section of the gallery, Alfstad& Backspace. “The effect of the two contrasting spaces – sunlight in the front space and dramatic, theatrical lighting in the back – will be strong, and sensational,” says Sam Alfstad. Mr. Taylor’s sculptures will premiere the space.
2nd Annual Art Glass Weekend
The 2nd Annual Art Glass Weekend in Sarasota, a collaboration of Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a division of Ringling College, and Habitat Galleries of Michigan, is designed to excite seasoned collectors as well as anyone who enjoys the medium of glass. The weekend highlight is “Masterworks: An International Glass Auction” on Friday, Jan 29, as well as tours of art collectors’ homes, glass artists talks and gallery visits in Sarasota and St. Petersburg. For information, schedules and to RSVP, contact Jane Buckman at 941-383-2345 or ibkca@ringling.edu.
Events include:
*Thursday 5:30 - 8:00 pm - Michael Taylor Solo show
*Friday 1:30 - 4:00 pm - Longboat Key Glass Home Tours
*Friday 6:30 pm - Masterworks: An International Glass Auction
*Saturday - many events including glass talks, Basch Ringling Glass tour
*Saturday 6:30 - 8:30 Commentaries: Stories Told In Glass Opening
*Sunday 10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Beauty in the Abstract: Artist Expressions in Glass
About the Artist:
Michael Taylor’s career in visual arts and education spans fifty years. It is evidenced by peer recognition through scholarships and grants from such prestigious organizations as Fulbright-Hayes Research Grant to Sweden and Central Europe; National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Arts Fellowship; New York State Foundation for the Arts Grant; New York State Council for the Arts, Visual Artist Fellowship; Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant; The Thord-Gray Fellowship of the American-Scandinavian Foundation; Korean – American Cultural Exchange, Samsung – Corning Foundation; Grand Prize – International Exhibition of Glass, Kanazawa, Japan; Dansforth Foundation for Humanities Grant; United States Department of Information Services, Cultural Specialist Award, Mexico; Portuguese – American Foundation Grant.
Taylor was head of the Glass Department at Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences in New York for twenty years and served in the Visual Arts Department at Vanderbilt University in Peabody College nine years prior in Tennessee.
His work is represented in the following permanent collections: The Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY; National Collection of American Art, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Fundacion Centro National Del Vidrio, Segovia, Spain; Bardudvarnok – Bardibukk Center for Glass Studies, Bardibukk, Hungary; Racine Museum of Art, Racine, Wisconsin; Luce Center for American Art, Washington, DC; Ogden Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana; Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, Kentucky; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; Sung – Jin Glass Museum, Kimpo, Korea; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington; Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, New York; National Museum of Glass, Marina Grande, Portugal; Kurokabe Glass Museum, Nagahama, Japan; Notojima Museum of Art, Notojima Japan; Del Vedrio Vidricra, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico; Glas Museum Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, Denmark; Vitro Corporation, San Pedro, Garcia, Garcia, N.L. Mexico; Kanazawa City Museum, Kanazawa, Japan; Tokyo Glass Art Institute, Kawasaki-Shi, Japan; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Alternative Sculpture Space, New York, New York; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Coca Cola Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia; Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, Tennessee; Eastman Kodak Corporation, Rochester, New York; Delaware Museum of Art, Wilmington, Delaware; National Museum of Glass, Leerdam, Netherlands; Kunsthaus Am Museum, Köln, Germany; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; Museum fur Kunslhaniwerk, Frankfurt, Germany; Standard Oil Corporation, Chicago, Illinois; The Lannon Foundation, San Francisco, California; Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany; Düsseldorf Museum of Art, Düsseldorf, Germany; Cohn Museum of Art, Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee; University of Texas, El Paso, Texas; Citibank NA, Rochester, NY and many other public and private collections.