Works from the Vortex: Glass Sculpture by Fritz Lauenstein
May 25-July 14
Reception: Sunday, June 2, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Gallery Talk: Thursday, June 6, 2 pm
Glassblower Fritz Lauenstein owns and operates Fritz Glass on Upper Country Road in Dennisport. There he makes and sells platters, bowls, vases, paperweights, marbles and other functional objects using brilliant, often swirling colors. When time allows, however, he relishes using glass – sometimes in combination with other materials – to fashion one-of-a-kind sculptures that are more personal in nature.
Lauenstein began learning the fundamentals of glass blowing as a student at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. He continued his studies at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt., and Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. After moving to the Cape in 1984, he spent several years working at various fishing jobs and as an assistant at Chatham Glass. He and his wife, June Raymond, opened Fritz Glass in 1991. In addition to Lauenstein’s glassblowing studio they run a retail shop and also wholesale their products to more than 120 galleries and gift shops across the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, which has featured Lauenstein’s “rainbow heart pendant” in its catalog the last five years. Lauenstein enjoys his work, but doesn’t view his decorative piece as outlets for creative expression. “This has allowed me to stay on the Cape and make a living,” he says matter-of-factly.
For him there’s no mental connection between the production work he makes for Fritz Glass and his conceptual sculptures, which relate to things he thinks a lot about in his daily life. “I go through my life and have experiences in my life … and objects come into my head,” he says. A piece titled “Twenty Years of No” comprises three sealed shadow boxes containing shelves displaying nonfunctional crack pipes. (This relates to Lauenstein receiving requests he can’t or won’t fill. Some people have even assumed he can make scientific laboratory equipment or fix broken windows.) “Nothing Special” features a piece of taxidermy – a coyote – surrounded by glass hoops. While the conceptual pieces are evocative – suggestive of stories – Lauenstein refrains from elaborating, hoping viewers will arrive at their own conclusions.
Lauenstein will also show a sampling of his production work as well as several all-glass sculptures that fall somewhere between his functional and conceptual pieces on the expressive and creative spectrum. These pieces – which he dubs “three-dimensional ‘doodling,’ for lack of a better term” – are constructions built from blown and formed glass. They are “me having fun with glass,” he says.
The Art of Anthony Quinn
June 13 - August 25
The motion picture star was also a talented and prolific artist, particularly excelling as a sculptor. He worked in wood, marble, bronze and other mediums, deriving his stylistic influences from Henry Moore, Picasso and other giants of twentieth-century abstract art.
Image: "Zorba-Self Portrait"
Stillness of Remembering: Paintings by Sarah Hinckley
July 17 - September 8
“Stillness of Remembering: Paintings by Sarah Hinckley,” is an exhibition of 17 abstract oil paintings inspired by the beauty of the Cape.
Sarah Hinckley is a 13th generation Cape Codder who grew up experiencing the land, sea and sky of the Cape – all of it awash in the region’s rarefied light. Although she now lives in New York, elements of the beaches and landscapes of her childhood find their way onto her minimalist canvases. Most of her works are broken into three or four horizontal bands, each muted and essentially monochromatic in nature. One band might suggest waves breaking on the sand, another band a puffy cumulus cloud. The mood is peaceful, even meditative.
It’s also relevant that Hinckley listens to music while she works and often titles her pieces after phrases from rock and pop tunes by the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Melissa Etheridge and Jimi Hendrix.
She received her BFA at Tufts University, completed her diploma at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and received her MFA at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in solo, two-person and group exhibitions at DM Contemporary, Tria Gallery and Sears Peyton Gallery in New York; Two Graces Gallery in Taos, N.M.; Emily Amy Gallery in Atlanta; and Jancar Gallery in Los Angeles. Hinckley is represented in numerous corporate and private collections, including the Bellagio in Las Vegas; Charles Schwab in New York; and Gallery Koyanagi in Tokyo, Japan.
Image: "Season of the Witch"
