Contemporary Directions
Sixty-three works of contemporary studio glass produced during the last fifteen years were selected from Maxine and William Block’s personal collection of more than 180 pieces. Inspired by an advertisement for a fashion house, Prada, which showed a woman in stiletto heels standing in a fine, white sand – the main ingredient of glass – we conceived of the show as having a naturally lit, sunny, summer-at-the beach feeling. In our exhibition design, a sequence of 10′ square, sand-filled boxes (sandboxes) formed the bases for the pedestals and vitrines, while translucent, polycarbonate panels formed subtly glowing backdrops to each grouping.
"The sculpture is set above smooth beds of white silica sand, a component of the overall design by architect Paul Rosenblatt that adds to the lustrous glow in the space and references the alchemic transformation of sand, lime and soda into glass through the medium of fire.”
- Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 5, 2002Photography by Joshua Franzos.