R 20th Century is pleased to announce JEFF ZIMMERMAN, the artist’s fourth solo exhibition. The exhibition will consist of a new body of work that highlights Zimmerman’s technical mastery of the medium and how his process continues to reinterpret and redefine the use of glass. New additions to his unique crinkled vessel series will be included in the exhibition, as well as Multiverse, a new series inspired by the scale and patterns of the cosmos. An opening reception for the artist will take place on Tuesday, January 21 from 6 pm to 8 pm.
Zimmerman takes as his starting point the old-world traditions of glass making handed down from Italian maestros and adds a contemporary element by manipulating the glass by hand, working with what he refers to as “controlled accidents” to design in response to the material’s unstable nature. His method introduces a spirit of spontaneity into this extremely controlled process.
For this exhibition, Zimmerman explores the use of color in varying degrees. His newest series of vessels range from muted pastels to deeper hues, creating an extraordinary visual depth through gradations of clear, mirrored, and colored glass in a single piece. The artist also adds an element of surprise to the objects with more saturated color by tucking a crystal-like piece of glass into the folds of the vessel.
The notion of infinity is also explored through his new Multiverse series, with clusters of giant glass spheres that are suspended in space, and mirrors that are embedded with reflective glass orbs. The reflective surfaces of these objects give the illusion of a growing and multiplying universe, embodying Zimmerman’s fascination with the patterns, repetition, and extreme variance of scale in the cosmos.
Says R 20th Century principal, Evan Snyderman: “Over the past twenty years, I have watched Jeff Zimmerman work with glass the way a master painter perfects his command of color, light, composition, movement, and balance. Jeff uses the same mastery of his material to convey emotion, as well as a sense of freshness and playfulness—a feat very few glass artists throughout history have been able to successfully accomplish.”
JEFF ZIMMERMAN is on view through March 8, 2013. The exhibition will be accompanied by a monograph, featuring an interview with gallerist Sean Kelly, and will be published by Damiani.
