AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY: THE OTHER GLASS
Curated by John Drury
Heller Gallery is pleased to present An Alternative History: The Other Glass, an exhibition curated by John Drury in which glass is the medium and the subject, the theme and the inspiration. To thoroughly reveal the material’s diversity, Drury includes paintings of glass and paintings on glass, that which mimics glass and that, which is made possible by glass; glass that embraces whimsy or is the result of experimentation. The exhibition includes historical objects, ephemera of interest and contemporary works by Nancy Cohen, the Hansen Brothers (Eli Hansen & Oscar Tuazon), Lonnie Holley, Amy Lemaire, Shari Mendelson, Robbie Miller, Jerry Pethick, Walter Robinson, Buster Simpson, Megan Stelljes and Robin Winters.
Drury’s lifelong passion for work just outside of any movement or ‘ism’ and for autodidact artists shines through in An Alternative History: The Other Glass. In his curatorial statement Drury writes: ‘Each artist included in the show is adept at recycling, re-use and re-purposing. Their achievements are not acquired by luck, but by purposeful and self-directed action. The hand is rarely hidden in their work with both process and matter evident in a broad range of expression. Acutely aware of their time, the participating artists celebrate what it is to be human with a visual language that clearly reflects a concern for the salvaged engaging the viewer, questioning conventional beauty and altering physical space to affect outdated beliefs.’
