11.14.2009

Marvin Lipofsky: Pick of First Thursday!

Thank you, Alan Bamberger, Kathryn Arnold and DeWitt Cheng for a wonderful review of Marvin Lipofsky's work.

Review by Kathryn Arnold: Marvin Lipofsky handles glass and color with the ease a painter might handle paint on a canvas-- an analogy pointing to the supreme technical skill this artist exhibits. His organic shapes at times resemble shell-like formations and point to inside/outside interior/exterior relationships. If glass was not such a fragile material, the sensation of wanting to pick these up hold them squish them would be almost unbearable. Candy-like colors are reminiscent of those seen in the depths of the ocean (National Geographic has educated me in this regard) so perhaps one can touch upon primordial beginnings. Yet they are what they are -- each shape also referencing itself without allusions to the outside world. Luminous objects of 'being' in most cases.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Berkeley's Marvin Lipofsky is an eminent glass artist, having helped pioneer the medium back in the 1960s. This show assembles work of the past four decades. Organic/complex form, plus ravishing color -- a must-see for those who admired the Chihuly extravaganza at the DeYoung. I take several pix of the artist, whose sense of humor I enjoy, but seem to have lost them somehow.

Comment by AB: Glassmaking at it's finest. Highly recommended. Pick of First Thursday. Artbusiness.com.

Images: (top) The artist, Marvin Lipofsky with Chico Group II 2004-2005 #5; SF • Tacoma Group 2006-2007 #5; ‘Glass Ambitions’ International Glass Symposium V, Series 1994 #2 (photo, Kathryn Arnold); L’viv Group 2001-2002 #2; Frauenau Group 2000-2002 #4; Chico Group II 2004-2005 #5 (back, Soviet Series 1989); Fratelli-Toso Series: Split Piece 1976-1980 (photo, Kathryn Arnold).

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