Steve Klein, Holding 2, 2009
kilnformed, blown and coldworked glass, 18.75 x 53.25 x 29.25 inches (including pedestal)
If you think all glass art is pretty much the same and it all looks pretty much like Dale Chihuly, think again. Glass is a fascinatingly stretchable medium, both in concept and execution, and the two shows sharing space at Bullseye Gallery stretch in very different directions.
Steve Klein's Contemplation, which consists mostly of finely formed small spheres resting on sinuously crumpled bases, is all about elegance, balance and beauty. Even when it's rough it's smooth: A few pieces imprison those sleek spheres inside jagged latticed snares, but the serene surfaces shine through. Lovely pieces, in a geometrically decorative fashion, wavering on the tip of form and craft.
Michael Rogers, Gathering, 2009
cast and engraved glass, brass, 18.5 x 11.5 x 2.25 inches
Michael Rogers' Flock, a holdover show that ends Saturday, April 11, is dark and dramatic, and it has a story to tell. Rogers comes from a family of beekeepers, and bees, for some reason we don't quite know, are in deep trouble. They're dying, in droves, and the consequences are serious: Bees play a vital role in the regeneration of life.
In his best piece, the wall-sized "The Keeper's Lament," Rogers substitutes images of birds for bees - maybe they're easier to make an emotional bond with; I don't know - and hangs them upside down, their feet coiled in rough wire attached to big crude iron nails. The birds, dead, are a dull gray, and they're swaddled in a death-wrap that both binds them and lends them an odd dignity. There's something gentle in the gesture, which suggests both helplessness and love. "The Keeper's Lament" echoes with urgency. If it's not exactly beautiful, it manifests a strange and startling grace. I have a feeling I'm going to be remembering it, and that's not true of a lot that I see.
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Download: Steve Klein Michael Rogers April 6, 2009