Artist of the Month
June 2019
Martin Blank
American artist Martin Blank creates magnificant figurative sculptures, architectural installations, and public works in glass, from abstract landscapes to monumental indoor and outdoor installations. His work is about carving space. From the commanding musculature of a male torso, to the sensuous curve of a vibrant scarlet abstract element, his creations evoke a direct connection to natural forms. Blank is represented by Hawk Galleries, Columbus, Ohio.
Click on each photo to the right for a full picture.
Deconstructed Blue, 2018; 16 x 13.5 x 12 inches; hot sculpted glass
Alabaster Grouping, 2018; 38 x 15 x 13 inches; hot sculpted glass Left: 12 x 11 x 10 inches; Middle: 15 x 12 x 13 inches; Right: 11 x 9 x 10 inches
Deconstructed Blue, 2018; 17 x 9.5 x 9 inches; hot sculpted glass
Golden Bloom, 2019; Medium: 14 x 11 x 10 inches, Small: 9 x 8 x 8 inches; hot sculpted glass
Whisper in the Forest (Male); 74 x 12 x 12 inches; hot sculpted glass
Convergence; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
Martin Blank
Artist Statement:
I see myself as an explorer of my material, continuing to push the limits and seeking ways that I can relate it all to my limitless ideas. I am an intuitive artist. I work on the way forms relate to each other to cut a line in space that flows, turns, and carries the eye around the piece. The forms reveal a negative space that is as vital and potent as the actual objects. My sculptural work is as much about the void as the mass.
Deconstructed Blue: The goal with this series was to take a recognizable form and deconstruct it. I used a new color technique, cloisonned blue, which adds brightness and an internal luminosity to the glass. Deconstructed Blue is a departure of the figure. It was a leap of faith for me to cut up the form and ruin it so that maybe, it could become something more. In the carving of facets in the piece, it creates a window into the figure so that time is exposed. The act of removal has the ability to reveal the beginning - allowing you to see into the moment of creation, that very first gather, the beginning and the end. You are able to witness the total life of the piece.
Golden Bloom: The piece is dedicated to a flower's simplicity and purity of form. Golden Bloom seeks to capture the ephemeral nature of a flower, by crystallizing each delicate petal in time. Gold leaf is applied to the surface to alter the way light interacts with the glass. The refractive material becomes reflective. The glass glows, giving a glimpse of nature's beauty.
About Martin Blank
Martin Blank has admired the grace and flow of the human form since childhood, having begun working in clay at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at age 13. In 1984, Blank earned a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and moved west to begin his professional career in Seattle, Washington. Blank worked with artist Dale Chihuly, and in the 1990s went on to start his own studio. Today, Martin Blank has an established reputation as one of the world’s most renowned glass sculptors.
Blank's early figurative work swiftly solidified his place as a premier figurative sculptor working in glass. He then expanded his contributions to the contemporary glass scene in 2001 when he introduced his sensual and fluid abstract landscapes.
Blank’s work is included in private collections and museums around the world to include the Corning Museum of Glass, New York, NY; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, CA; and the Cleveland Museum of Fine Art. His large permanent public installations include Fluent Steps at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA; Steam Portrait at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, NY; Repose in Amber at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana; Convergence at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, OH; and Current at the Tacoma Art Museum in Tacoma, WA.
Acknowledgment of Gallery:
We are grateful to Hawk Galleries, Columbus, Ohio, for providing the Artist of the Month.
The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.
