'Observations' - works by Ann Wolff at The Mint Museum

Wednesday, 29 November 2006 11:31

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A consummate craftsman, designer and educator, Ann Wolff is also one of the most significant contemporary artists working with glass.  Her award-winning work has been exhibited and acquired by individuals and institutions globally.  The Mint Museum of Craft + Design is no exception and is honored to be the sole United States venue for OBSERVATIONS – works by Ann Wolff on view January 27 through July 29, 2007.  Featuring over 80 works, OBSERVATIONS , Wolff’s largest retrospective to date, illustrates the evolution of Wolff’s talent over the course of her 30-year career.  Regardless of the medium used, Wolff creates intimate portraits of the artist as mother, daughter, goddess and lover; roles that are universally recognizable to all women and the lives they touch.

The works in the exhibition are organized by themes or “stations,” as Wolff refers to them, each one being expressed in various mediums ranging from delicate watercolors and drawings in charcoal, pastel and pencil to substantial sculptures in bronze and glass.

According to Mark Richard Leach, Chief Curator of Craft + Design, “On the international stage, there are but a few artists capable of such commanding sculpture in glass.  Wolff’s rare blend of idea, technique and dramatic visual result offer a life’s work that is diverse, intensely expressive, intimate and Herculean in vision.”

Wolff has received several distinguished awards for her vast range of work from utilitarian designs to architectural installations.  They include the Lunning Prize (1968), the Coburg Glass Prize (1977), and Corning’s Rakow Commission (1997).  Her works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions and now reside in prominent public and private collections internationally.  Wolff is perhaps best known for her iconic designs for the Kosta Boda factory Snowball & Grape, which are still in production today.  Locally, she has worked with Harvey Littleton in his Spruce Pine, NC studio to create several series’ of vitreographs (Revived by Littleton, this printing technique utilizes glass plates).  A passionate teacher, Wolff, along with Dirk Bimberg and Wilke Adolfsson, co-founded Tränsjö in 1978.  This glass residency program became a crossroads for international studio glass artists.

Offering a comprehensive chronicling of Ann Wolff’s life and career, OBSERVATIONS presents works spanning nearly three decades (1978-2004).  An exhibition catalogue will accompany the exhibition. This internationally touring exhibition’s itinerary includes: the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark; National Glass Centre, England; Suomen lasimuseo, Finland; Glashütte Gernheim, Germany; and the Smålands Museum, Sweden.

OBSERVATIONS - works by Ann Wolff was organized by Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark.  Ann Wolff will be in attendance for the members’ opening receptions on January 25 and 26, 2007.  On Saturday, January, 27, 2007, Ms. Wolff will lecture on the exhibition at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design at 3:30 p.m.  The lecture is free with museum admission.  Visit : www.mintmuseum.org; or www.themintmuseums.org/programs_events.php.