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Late night opening of the British Glass Biennale
6 – 9pm Saturday 27 September
Announcing the winner of the People’s Prize
Enjoy an evening of cool jazz and a last opportunity to view the fabulous British Glass Biennale exhibition. It’s also your final chance to vote for the People’s Prize… voting closes at 7.30pm
The presentation of the People’s Prize by Craftsman craft&design Magazineand Warm Glass takes place at 8.00pm
People’s Prize 2008… What is your favourite piece?
For the next three weeks visitors to the British Glass Biennale are invited to vote for their favourite piece. The artist with the most votes will win the People’s Prize.
The winning artist will receive professional support and promotional materials donated by Craftsman craft&design Magazine and Warm Glass.
The People’s Prize is sponsored by Craftsman craft&design Magazine and Warm Glass.
Tracy Nicholls. Orphica II (detail)
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22nd August 2008
British Glass Biennale Award Winner Announced
Tracy Nicholls, of Kingston-upon-Thames, has won the 2008 British Glass Biennale Award. Ms Nicholls was presented with her award by Will Farmer, Chairman of the Biennale judging panel and member of the BBC TV Antique Roadshow team of experts, at the launch of the British Glass Biennale in Stourbridge in the West Midlands.
Ms Nicholls’ winning triptych, entitled Orphica I, II and III was chosen ahead of 130 other entries submitted by 81 British-based artists. The work comprises three 14 inch (35cm) square glass panels and was inspired by images of diseased cells viewed under a microscope. “I saw an image of cancerous cells and thought how beautifully fragile they appear but of course we all know how unpleasant they really are. The image reinforced the old adage that looks can be deceiving. “I set out to challenge our perception of beauty and I am absolutely overwhelmed to have won this award. “I have only been working with glass for five years after seeing a friend making glass beads I took a four-day introductory course at Richmond Arts School. “I can’t believe I’ve won.”
The thirty-nine-year-old fits in her artistic passion between her job as a nanny and created her winning work “in the garden shed and on the living room floor.” Asked what she would do with her £8,000 prize money she replied “now I can afford a kiln.”
The 3rd British Glass Biennale, which is part of the International Festival of Glass, is being staged at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Amblecote near Stourbridge, the historical heart of the UK glass industry, and is open daily between 10am and 5pm until September 28th. The exhibition showcases the cutting edge of contemporary artworks by British-based artists using glass as their major material. All the works of art are for sale and prices range from £200 for delicately engraved items to Peter Layton’s huge £34,000 ‘Scrubber.’
Dr William Cook, Master of the Worshipful Company of
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The British Glass Biennale Awards ceremony was attended by over five hundred guests. The Glass Sellers Award 2008, sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers of London and with a £5,000 prize, was won by Devon-based Bob Crooks for his free-blown ‘Vertical Vase’. Runners up prize was awarded to James Lethbridge of Doncaster for his piece ‘Serpentine Chandelier’. The Glass Sellers Student Award was given to Timothy Boswell for Fiesta 1 and Steven Whitehill was awarded runner up for his piece ‘Untitled’.
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Ref: IGF/PR025/Winners
For further information contact Brendan McKeown on 07966 135536 or
Jo Evans on 01384 378873 - 07732 311821
Editor’s notes
PEOPLE’S PRIZE
Visitors to the British Glass Biennale exhibition are invited to vote for their favourite piece. The artist with the most votes will win the People’s Prize which will be announced towards the close of the exhibition.
The winner will receive professional support and promotional materials donated by Craftsman craft&design Magazine and Warm Glass.
SPONSORS/SUPPORTERS:
Ruskin Mill Educational Trust
Advantage West Midlands
Arts Council England
Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers
Craftsman craft&design Magazine
22nd August 2008
Glass Award Winners for 2008 Announced
Hundreds of guests celebrated with this year’s glass award winners at the opening of the British Glass Biennale exhibition which took place at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Amblecote, Stourbridge, West Midlands on Thursday 21 August.
Tracy Nicholls was blown away when the jurors announced that she was the winner of the British Glass Biennale Award for her triptych – Orphica I, II and III. Her piece was judged by the Biennale jury to reflect the highest degree of creative achievement in contemporary British glass, and to be the ‘best in show’.
22nd August 2008
People’s Prize 2008
Exhibitors at the 2008 British Glass Biennale are hoping their work will impress visitors to the month long exhibition (22nd August to 28th September) at the Ruskin Glass Centre in Amblecote near Stourbridge.
The Craftsman craft&design Magazine is sponsoring a People’s Prize that invites visitors to the Biennale to vote for their favourite exhibit. The winning exhibit will be announced towards the end of September and the winning artist will be featured in a full page article in the November/December issue of the Craftsman craft&design Magazine and online.
The artist and their work will also be featured on the front cover of the March/April 2009 issue together with a two page spread inside and £250 voucher to spend with Warm Glass, the UK’s main supplier of kiln-forming materials.
The 3rd British Glass Biennale showcases the finest examples of contemporary glass art by leading UK-based artists. Eighty one artists have been selected out of 235 applicants to present the most interesting, diverse and outstanding glass art made in the UK. It is the must-see exhibition for collectors, buyers and enthusiasts of contemporary glass art and it is a selling show, with over 130 pieces of work priced from £200 to £35,000.
Entry to the British Glass Biennale is free from 26th August to September 28th.
Ends
Ref: IGF/PR024 August 2008
For further information contact Brendan McKeown on 07966 135536 or
Jo Evans on 01384 378873/07732 311821
Email: bsamckeown@aol.com
British Glass Biennale sponsors/supporters:
Craftsman craft&design Magazine
26th July 2008
International Festival of Glass Preview at the Artlounge Birmingham
The Artlounge is pleased to be working in conjunction with the International Festival of Glass for this year’s British Glass Biennale. The Artlounge, situated in the prestigious Mailbox, Birmingham will preview a selection of glass artists involved in this year’s biennale from the 4th August and continuing throughout the festival. Among the artists previewed at the Artlounge will be Hannah Kippax and James Lethbridge.
The Artlounge can be found on level 3 of the Mailbox and operates the largest commercial gallery for contemporary art in Birmingham, exhibiting a huge selection of paintings, limited edition prints, sculpture, ceramics and glass.
The Artlounge is open seven days a week, 10am until 6pm from Monday to Wednesday, 10am until 7pm Thursday to Saturday and 11am until 5pm on Sundays.
The Artlounge
28-30 Wharfside Street, The Mailbox, Birmingham, B1 1XL
T: 0121 685 2555
F: 0121 633 3451
E:mailbox@artlounge.com
W: www.artlounge.com
9th July 2008
UK’s major exhibition of contemporary glass select Mytton Williams to create new brand identity
The UK’s biggest selling exhibition of contemporary glass, the British Glass Biennale, is being launched with a new brand identity and visual language created by the Mytton Williams design consultancy of Bath. The exhibition runs from 22 August to 28 September 2008 and is the highlight of the International Festival of Glass held in Stourbridge’s historic glass quarter.
This is the third Glass Biennale and up till now has been promoted under the International Festival of Glass branding. The event has grown significantly and the organizers/the client, Ruskin Glass Centre felt that the BGB needed to have its own identity communicating the high artistic value of glass. “This was a stimulating project to work on,” explains Bob Mytton, creative director of Mytton Williams. “The client wanted bold and challenging design ideas to indicate significant developments in the growth of the exhibition. Creatively we were briefed to grasp the essence of the exhibition - the contemporary, varied and artistic value of glass”
Mytton Williams added to this ‘contemporary’ starting point by emphasising the uniqueness and magical qualities of glass itself. The refractive and distorting qualities of glass were chosen as the underlying creative concept. The new ‘distorted’ BGB logo has been designed in black or white thereby highlighting the colour and artistic innovativeness of the glass in the promotional material. The new identity and visual brand language is being applied to all British Glass Biennale 2008 promotional material including the exhibition catalogue (pub. August 2008), advertising, exhibition graphics and the newly launched website.
Editors notes:
For more information contact:
Rosemary Dawson
Mytton Williams
1-4 Daniel Mews
Bath BA2 6NG
01225 476476
www.myttonwilliams.co.uk
Mytton Williams
Mytton Williams is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Bath. Established in 1996 by Bob Mytton and Sophie Williams the company is now 9 strong and works with national and international clients in a broad range of sectors from professional services and construction to public bodies and arts organisations.
Images of the artist’s work for the 2008 Biennale are available via the IFG website on its image bank. Go to:
Then click on BIENNALE IMAGES.
29th April 2008
BRITISH GLASS BIENNALE – ARTISTS ANNOUNCED!
The Ruskin Glass Centre, in association with the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, is delighted to announce the artists for the 2008 British Glass Biennale exhibition.
January 2008
BRITISH GLASS BIENNALE
Calling all artists – submission criteria for the 2008 British Glass Biennale has now been published on the new Biennale web site: www.biennale.org.uk. The Biennale is open to artists, designers and craftspeople, working in all areas of contemporary glass practice or using glass as a key design element.
This year the UK’s premiere selling exhibition of contemporary glass has £14,000 in prize money to be won alongside its growing international status as the leading showcase for British based makers.
The British Glass Biennale is delighted to be working in association with the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers to offer three prizes, with a student section incorporated for the first time. The British Glass Biennale Award is increased to £8000 for the ‘best in show’; the Glass Sellers Award is worth £5000 and the Glass Sellers Student Award of £1000.
An expert panel will be judging the submissions; comprising:
| Will Farmer | Director, Fieldings Auctioneers |
| Deirdre Figueiredo | Director, Craftspace |
| Jeremy Hunt | Editor, Art & Architecture |
| Kim Mawhinney | Curator of Applied Art, Ulster Museum |
| Angela Thwaites | Glass Artist |
The names of the selected exhibitors will be published at the end of April 2008 with the prize winners announced at the Awards Ceremony on 21 August at the Ruskin Glass Centre.
In 2006 101 artists were selected to exhibit, with Max Jacquard winning the British Glass Biennale Award. This massive representation of established artists and emerging new talent not only offers a clear illustration of the strength of the current British glass scene, but also reflects an extraordinarily wide range of styles and methods of glass-making.
The exhibition has developed a reputation for displaying work that is rich and diverse in size, discipline and form; from intricate glass beads through to giant architectural kiln-formed pieces. Jurors will be looking for technical excellence and artistic quality.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm Friday 28 March 2008.
The exhibition starts on 22 August and is open 10am to 5pm daily until 28 September.
The Biennale is a highlight of the International Festival of Glass, a four-day public festival celebrating the rich and dynamic world of glass, taking place August 22 to 25 at locations across the Stourbridge Glass Quarter. www.ifg.org.uk
For further details and application forms please visit: www.biennale.org.uk.
British Glass Biennale, Ruskin Glass Centre, Amblecote, Stourbridge DY8 4HF.
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For further information and images of previous winners, please contact:
Candice-Elena Greer e-mail: info@biennale.org.uk + 44 (0) 207 751 3435
For more information about the Masterclasses visit: http://www.ifg.org.uk/masterclasses.html
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