higher than 12 inches, they are exception-
ally glamorous ones. The majority of his
more than 100 pieces in the show are based
on the vase form, although the sparkling
clear-glass
Cristallo Sommerso,
a new series,
was derived from another vessel, the
torqued human body. Much praised for
his experimentation with color, Ohira
has developed a breathtaking palette. His
works enclose a kaleidoscope of hues
with the fire of jewels as seen in his
Calle
and
Fitiestre
sequences, here inspired by
the streets of Venice or Kyoto: the sky
glimpsed through a long sliver of space
between buildings, a garden, a house, all
seen through a window in the vessel.
Not-
tumo Vetieziano,
2009, is another beauty,
its deep, incandescent blue that of Venice
as night falls. An earlier work,
Quattro
Lutie con utia Foschia,
2006, relies less on
light for its effect and resembles a land-
scape, say, on a Momoyama screen. A
cylindrical shape with a flat lid, its central
black band is ornamented with four phases
of the moon in gold and encircled by what
appears to be a strip of malachite and coral
in a tour de force of material trompe l’ceil.
The least dependent on traditional
forms, as evidenced by this showing, Laura
de Santillana (b. 1955, Venice) is represent-
ed by glass sculpture, hybrids between
sculpture and painting and installations.
A recent series,
Meteors,
was inspired by
battered oilcans washed onto a beach.
Placed on the floor, they suggest a field
Top Left:
Yoichi Ohira
C ris ta llo S om m erso N .
5 4 — S c o tp ito V ase,
2008,
hand-blown glass canes,
partial battuto and
inciso surface, n3/sx 4%
x 4% in.
Bottom Left:
Laura de Santillana,
T o k y o -g a X I V R lu ir n /
R osso S c u ro ,
2008,
hand-blown and shaped
glass, 12V« x 9% x i-yS in.
Top Right:
Yoichi Ohira,
A v o r io V ase,
2004,
hand-blown glass
canes with murrine,
10V4 x d. 7 in.
Maestro Livio Serena and
Maestro Giacomo Barium
Bottom Right:
Laura de Santillana,
T o k y o -g a X I I (R lu N e r o /
R u b in o ) ,
2008, hand-
blown and shaped glass,
I25/« x 9 x 1Y4 in.
of lustrous, eroded boulders from space.
More arresting in terms of vivid color are
her signature
Tokyo-gas
and
Flags.
These
beautiful pieces resemble Rothko paint-
ings—as is frequently noted—and other
Color Field abstractions, although their
duo-tone or triple-tone bands, collapsed
between clear glass, are much more bril-
liant, harnessing actual light and carefully
weighted so the slabs are freestanding.
Softly glowing, they are one answer to the
often-asked question: where did the aura
in a work of art go after modernism? De
Santillana’s perfect
Bodhi
vases, some with
mirrored interiors, could be the platonic
embodiment of a sacred vessel and refer to
the positions assumed by Buddhist monks
in prayer.
While less might have been more, “3
Visions” is a stunning showcase of ways to
amp up color and light and explore form as
it plays with the once canonical distinctions
between art, craft and design.
Lilly IVei is a New Tirk-basecl art critic.
♦
The exhibition is at the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art, Kansas City,
MO
(Mar. 6 - Aug. 15,2010), and tours to the
Naples Museum of Art,
FL
(Oct. 1,2010-
Jan. 15,2011), and the Musée des Arts
Décoratifs, Paris (Mar. 23-Sept. 4, 2011).
The hardcover catalog in English and
French is $75 from Barry Friedman Ltd.,
and Arnoldsche, arnoldsche.com.
apr/may io american craft 031
