Pratt Manhattan Gallery has unveiled their exhibition “Bright Future: New Designs in Glass” featuring innovative and mesmerizing uses for the centuries-old material. The exhibit, which features furniture, tableware, architectural elements and lighting designs, will be on display until May 5th, 2012. The artists and firms featured here displays a refined use of glass in conjunction with metal, concrete and pigment to evoke its qualities of flexibility and transparency. In conjunction with this exhibit, Pratt will be hosting a free panel discussion: “Glass, Light and Public Space” on April 5th at 6pm in Lecture Hall 213 of Pratt’s Manhattan Campus at 144 West 14th Street, Second Floor.
Read on after the break to see previews of the exhibit and for more on the panel discussion.
The panel, featuring “Bright Future” guest-curator Sarah Archer, chief curator at the Philadelphia Art Alliance; architect James Carpenter; fine artist Bruce Munro; and glass artist and Pratt alumnus Tom Patti will discuss the continued vitality and versatility of glass as a medium in technology, design, and architecture. William Menking, professor of architecture at Pratt Institute and founder of The Architect’s Newspaper, will moderate the panel. The discussion and exhibition are both free and open to the public.
Sarah Archer is the chief curator at the Philadelphia Art Alliance and was director of Greenwich House Pottery, curatorial assitant at the Museum of Arts and Design, and writer for a number of art and craft journals, Modern Magazine and the Huffington Post. She holds a master of arts degree from Bard Graduate Center and a bachelor of arts degree from Swarthmore College.
James Carpenter, founder of James Carpenter Design Associates, has been involved with the research and invention of architectural applications for glass including photo-responsive glasses and various glass ceramics. His firm gained recent recognition for the redevelopment of the new Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, which featured a large vaulted glass ceiling over a plaza within the present architecture. Carpenter studied architecture and sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design.
Bruno Munro is known for his sculptural light works and installation art. His work has been displayed at the Guggenheim Museum, in Pirelli Garden at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and during London’s Fashion Week. He also works commercially and will have a one-man show in Philadelphia this June in Longwood Gardens. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Bristol Polytechnic.
Tom Patti works with transparent cross-sections of glass, capturing patterns of light and colors. He is considered an artist, designer, and materials scientist, winning numerous awards for his sculptures and architectural collaborations of glass and plastics. He also works as a technical consultant. His work has appeared in The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; and the Louvre Museum in Paris. He studied industrial design at Pratt Institute.
William Menking, the moderator, is an architecture historianm writer, critic and curator. He is founder and editor of The Architect’s Newspaper and A|N Book Review. He has published numerous works on architecture, urbanism and planning. He is currently the a professor at Pratt Institute in architecture, urbanism and city planning.
via Pratt Institute
