REVIEWED
F r a n tis e k
V iz n e r
Two overlapping shows highlight the C zech a r tist’s
cast-glass a n d cold-w orked “bow ls, ’’ w ith th eir
color a n d d eliv erin g light.
S T O R Y BY
John Perreault
C orn in g M useum o f G lass
M asters o f Studio Glass: F rantiäek V izn er
C orning, N ew York
N ovem ber i, 2008 - M arch 22,2009
w w w .cm og.org
B a rry F riedm an L td .
F rantisek V izn er: N e w Sculpture
and D raw ings
N ew Y o rk , N ew Y ork
O ctober 23 - D ecem ber 20,2008
w w w .barryfriedm an ltd.com
Above, at Friedman:
Opaque W h ite B o w l,
2008, cut, sandblasted,
polished glass
(h.4Y2in, w .im in }.
In the second installment o f its M asters o f
Studio Glass series o f exhibitions, the
Corning M useum o f Glass offers a concise
survey o f the career o f the C zech artist,
Frantisek V izn er (b. 1936). T h e idea o f
the series is to highlight the w ork o f artists
represented in depth in C om in g’s perma-
nent collection o f more than 45,000 glass
art objects.
T h e 44 objects provide an introduction
to the artist’s elegant form s. H is early ca-
reer was spent designing factory production
for domestic use, so it is not surprising that
in his studio w ork his sculptures are vessels
too. T h e prime objects here are V izn er’s
cast-glass and then cold-worked “bow ls,”
w ith their satiny surfaces and glorious ways
o f transmitting color and delivering light.
Variations w ithin the set forms are beauti-
fully orchestrated: a divided interior, a rain
drop blip and “ milk” within an outer bow l,
as well as a range o f glow ing m onochromes,
provide variety.
C urator T in a O ld kn ow ’s labels make
clear h ow V izn e r changed when he w as
able to w ork outside design prerogatives.
T h e early pieces, designed for the Sklo
U nion glassw orks in T ep lice, are blow n-
glass w ork w hose com pletion the artist
h im self did not supervise. N everth eless,
the rem arkable, dark green
Square Vase I,
1962, seems to foreshadow the new but
cast-glass opaque w orks he now produces
in his studio in the C zech Republic.
A long w ith a selection o f more typical
w orks, a few o f these new opaque pieces,
which to some might look like solid plastic
rather than glass, were at B arry Friedman
Ltd. last fall. V izn er is still carving, sand-
blasting and polishing his bow ls, but in the
opaque w orks on view , you can’t see into
or through the glass, and colored shadows
do not fan out from the bases.
A lth ough the exhibition space at C orn -
ing is m odest, the V izn er display makes
im portant points, even w ithout a catalog.
044 american craft feb/maro9
