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Coinciding with the UN’s International Year of Glass, Charles Burnand Gallery reiterates its long-standing global reputation of championing glass in collectable design. For September this year, the renowned gallery and studio in London presents First Impression, a group show that celebrates glass as a material in contemporary, collectable design. Contemporary artists such as CaCO3, Fredrik Nielsen, Joanna Manousis, Zac Weinberg, Dawn Bendick, as well as emerging talent Binghui Song and Inger Sif Heeschen join the show.
On view from September 5 to September 30, 2022, the show will also run synonymously with the London Design Festival 2022. Nestled in the heart of Fitzrovia’s art hub, the showcase will also feature a series of curated events and talks within the gallery. “To be able to curate a show with glass artworks of this calibre and quality is a clear demonstration of how glass can be taken from the everyday and elevated to extraordinary levels,” says Simon Stewart, owner of Charles Burnand Gallery. “First Impression challenges the viewers’ perception of glass and is a true celebration of the fragility and strength of this age-old medium,” he adds.
Dawn Bendick, a sculptural artist hailing from Kent, works with time, light and multitone glass. Her project titled 'Time Over Time' takes the viewer on a visual journey through the changing properties of a material over time. The artist works with natural and artificial lights to catalyse changes in the colour of this magical material–multitone glass. Fredrik Nielsen, a trained glassblower, has an oeuvre that is a testimony of his range of inspirations from graffiti to pop music, the energy of which is deeply set in each of his designs. His work ‘I was STAR’ emulates a similar raw expression and experimental forms in blown glass. “I want the physical effort to be so big that I am creating a work that is competing with my own body. Everything that reaches this stadium of competition becomes important, then I have created a volume that is looking for the limits of body and mass,” shares Nielsen.
The works of Italian design studio CaCO3 appear as undulating surfaces with tesserae of glass, sometimes coloured, covered in gold leaf or marbled. The tesserae can be arranged in many different ways and can be different from each other. Variation in their appearance due to the changes in the inclination generates effects of movement, rotation, modularity, and pulsation–qualities seen in Cattedrale 67. Founded by British-American artists Joanna Manousis and Zac Weinberg, Manberg Projects creates bespoke glass wall installations using digital and hand-made processes. Their creation of Aurum, much like the rest of their work, is a celebration of symmetry, pattern, and form.
This design event also features a piece by award-winning designer Max Jacquard. Experienced in a diverse range of glass working techniques, Jacquard pushes the boundaries of the material's possibilities in Lost Loves Wreath. Noa Chernichovsky, a ceramic sculptor based in Tel Aviv, presents Banana Tree 1 as a part of the show. Her work spotlights the mundane physical things we often neglect. She reconstructs these objects into hybrid volumes composed of many elements, each with a context and cultural value. Albeit mundane, the objects embody an over-the-top language with elaborate textures and patterns, producing a visual teeming with energy.
Binghui Song is a Chinese artist with strong ties with traditional craft and experience with a variety of mediums. Her coral-like work including jewellery design, illustration and sculpture, expresses emotions in waves through their irregular silhouettes. The emerging artist showcases ‘Psychedelic Fluid’ in the gallery. Inger Sif Heeschan, an interdisciplinary artist, adds the troupe with a glazed earthenware design titled ‘The Stones’. A lighting design that joins the repository of predominantly sculptural art is Search/Party by Zac Weinberg. His projects address the systems through which we interpret and allocate status to objects, and his glass and mixed media works have been exhibited internationally.
Bringing emerging and established artists under one roof, the curation of sculptural ceramic works sits alongside the glass pieces. The coexistence of varying materiality and textures underlines the differences across the mediums and appreciates emotional parallels. At the London Design Festival, Charles Burnand Gallery will introduce this diverse yet harmonious materiality and the infinite potential of a veteran material in contemporary design.
‘First Impression’ will be on view from September 5 to September 30, 2022, at Charles Burnand Gallery, London.
Everything you need to know about London Design Festival 2022. Celebrating its 20th year, the festival takes over the city of London with installations, exhibitions, and talks from major design districts such as Brompton, Shoreditch Design Triangle, Greenwich Peninsula, Design London, Clerkenwell Design Trail, Park Royal, Mayfair, Bankside, King's Cross, William Morris Line, and Islington.
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