June 27, 2021

Melting Point at Heller Gallery and Ferrin Contemporary, June 24 – September 5, 2021

“Heller Gallery in collaboration with Ferrin Contemporary, is pleased to present Melting Point, a group exhibition of glass and ceramic artists whose use of the melting point is central to their practice. Featuring nearly 100 works by 22 artists, the exhibition will be on view at Heller Gallery in New York City and Ferrin Contemporary on the MASS MoCA campus in North Adams. The artists, both established and emerging, explore the inherent physical qualities of materials that are formed and reformed by melting, as well as express their concern for the environmental melting point our planet seems to be approaching. 

Melting Point is the degree when solid becomes soft, eventually becoming liquid and a boiling point is reached. Glaze melts, clay and glass soften, surface and form become pliable. Used metaphorically, as the planet warms, we are finding ourselves closer to the melting point both physically and socially. In 2020, forces combined under pressure of the COVID virus, politics exploded, and nature responded with melting ice, raging fires and extreme weather. Likewise, artists use the melting point as a metaphor in their work to express their political beliefs and sound the alarm using the fragile materials of glass and ceramic.” — Heller Gallery

Stine Bidstrup, Bifurcations (Object 7 -Black), 2013, fused and stretched glass, 11 x 13 3/4 x 5 in.
Sydney Cash, Leaking, 1990, glass/steel wire, 7 x 4 x 2 in.
Amber Cowan, Fountain in Rosalene, 2021, flameworked American pressed glass, 17 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.
Laura Kramer, Gallium, 2021, glass, 25 x 8 1/2 x 5 in.
Pamela Sabroso & Alison Siegel, Teardrop Extrusion, 2018, glass, 5 x 4 x 4 in.
Raymon Elozua, R&D VII RE-17-1, 2014, clay/glaze/glass/steel, 43 x 43 x 23 in.
Peter Christian Johnson, Tilt, 2018, porcelain, 22 x 23 x 13″
Steven Young Lee, Gourd Vases With Dodos, 2018, 10 x 18 x 19 in.
Courtney Leonard, Nebolous Ghost Trao Study – Large Triangle, earthenware, 20 x 9 x 10″
Lauren Mabry, Glaze Flow Cylinder, 2020, red earthenware/slip/glaze, 7 3/4 x 13 1/2 x 13 in. (19.7 x 34.3 x 33 cm
Gregg Moore, 20 Bone China Cups, 2021, 2 3/4 x 3 x 3 3/4 (each); 3 x 23 x 30″ overall
Robert Silverman, Untitled, 2021, glazed porcelain/automotive paint, 9 x 9 x 9 in.
Norwood Viviano, Cities Underwater, (detail) 2018, blown glass/vinyl cut drawings, dimensions variable.

Title image: Lauren Mabry, Glazescape (Pink No. 2), 2021, red earthenware, slip, glaze, 20.75 x 17.75 x 4.5″.

Participating artists represented by Heller Gallery include Stine Bidstrup, Nancy Callan, Sydney Cash, Amber Cowan, Morten Klitgaard, Laura Kramer, Tom Patti, Pamela Sabroso & Alison Siegel, and Norwood Viviano.

Participating artists represented by Ferrin Contemporary include Raymon Elozua, Peter Christian Johnson, Steven Young Lee, Courtney Leonard, Beth Lipman, Lauren Mabry, Gregg Moore, Katie Parker & Guy Michael Davis, Paul Scott, Sally Silberberg, and Robert Silverman. 

Images courtesy Heller Gallery.