Press Release: Feb 08, 2009: The Art of Opening: Bottles & Their Toppers

The Art of Opening: Bottles & Their Toppers

May 1 – July 18, 2009

(Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, PA) The Wood Turning Center is pleased to announce the May 1, 2009, opening of its latest exhibition: The Art of Opening: Bottles & Their Toppers, which will run at the Center through July 18, 2009. To push the frontiers of American and International Craft, the Wood Turning Center sent out a prospectus calling for original hand-made, limited production corkscrews and wine bottle stoppers. The Center recruited two internationally known artists, Boris Bally and Michael Hosaluk, as guest curators for this exhibition. Each juror reviewed the content, forms, materials and construction methods utilized in the corkscrews and bottle stoppers. This highly-imaginative exhibition is shown in conjunction with the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) annual conference, Revolution, in Philadelphia, PA, from May 20-23, 2009. Join us during the opening reception for the thrill of a live auction with auctioneers from Barry S. Slosberg Inc. Auctioneers and Appraisers who are donating their time and efforts to make this night a success.

In an exciting collaboration that evolved from how to display these works, the Wood Turning Center and the WheatonArts and Cultural Center, Millville, NJ, have partnered to work with local glass artists to create one-of-a-kind glass vessels inspired by each bottle stopper. These hand blown glass vessels and bottle stoppers will be on display – and are bound to make truly unique gifts for wine lovers and collectors.

From whimsical to elegant forms, these works show how far functional inventiveness has come from the first bottle stopper patented in 1795. Hilary Pfeifer’s work is a playful and distinctively colorful bottle stopper titled “Love Birds”- a 24 inch tall branch sprouting out of the cork where two birds kiss and nestle. Mike Yager’s bottle stopper “Ogallica“, provides a dream-like environment where the absent drinker once perched on a cliff. Made from a sand dollar, menhaden bones, pine wood, and copper, to name a few, Yager even crafted a tiny bucket falling dramatically into the mouth of the vessel from a drinking well. Belgium artist, Linda Savineau, crafted an exquisite sight in “Bloody Bordeaux”. Made from steel pins and corkscrew ends, this work is a surreal sight to behold- indeed if one tried to pick up this stopper the color red would flow. From Savineau’s artist statement she quoted Aristophanes- “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.”

In addition to these works, the Wood Turning Center and ONEOFONEHUNDRED Limited, England, will be showcasing a video projection of Rob Higgs’s Corkscrew film. In this video, Rob Higgs shows “The Corkscrew”, a large-scale ingenious mechanical device of bronze, complete with cabinet base, which functions by the turn of a crank - opening a bottle and pouring a glass of wine.

Boris Bally of Providence, RI, is known for award-winning work in metal that is both witty and innovative. He employs the use of jeweler’s skills to contrast non-precious and natural materials. Bally is widely known for his creative recycling of highway road signs. Bally was the recipient of the 2006 Individual Achievement Award for the Visual Arts presented by the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island. He also has received two Rhode Island Council on the Arts Fellowships in Design, and a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in Craft. His work is featured in numerous international exhibitions and publications. Public collections include London’s V&A Museum, Museum of Art & Design, Carnegie Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Renwick Gallery, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the Wood Turning Center.

Michael Hosaluk of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is one of Canada’s most highly respected creative wood turners. He was recently named the 29th recipient of the $25,000 Saidye Bronfman Award. Hosaluk is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Saskatchewan Crafts Council. He is the author of Scratching the Surface: Art and Content in Contemporary Wood, released in 2002 by Guild Publishing. His work has been featured in Wood Turning in North America Since 1930 (2001), published by the Wood Turning Center and Yale University Art Gallery; Wood Art Today: Furniture, Vessels, Sculpture (2003), by Dona Z. Mailach; and most recently in Teapots: Makers and Collectors (2005), also by Dona Z. Mailach.

Corkscrews and bottle stoppers were created by:

Sue Amendolara, PA, US
Stevie B., NJ, US
Russell Baldon, CA, US
Boris Bally, RI, US
Kristin Beeler, OH, US
Harriete Estel Berman, CA, US
Sara Brown, OH, US
Andy Cooperman, WA, US
David Damkoehler, WI, US
Cynthia Eid, MA, US
Frankie Flood, WI, US
Dewey Garrett, CA, US
Tucker Garrison, NC, US
Robert M. Hawkins, IL, US
Rob Higgs, Leicester, UK
Matthew Hollern, OH, US
Ed Kelle, NY, US
Yuri Kobayashi, ME, US
Victoria Lansford, GA, US
Melissa Lovingood, GA, US
Kenneth C. MacBain, NJ, US
Tony Marsh, FL, US
Tom Muir, OH, US
Paulette Myers, IL, US
Natalie Nirdlinger, OH, US
Hilary Pfeifer, OR, US
Phil Renato, MI, US
Linda Savineau, BELGIUM
Adrien Segal, CA, US
Amanda E. Stark, OH, US
Robert Sutter, MA, US
James Thurman, PA, US
Deb Todd Wheeler, MA, US
Greg Wilbur, OR, US
Mike Yager, OH, US
Stephen Yusko, OH, US

The Wood Turning Center

At its Old City, Philadelphia location, the Center features international contemporary wood art in changing exhibits, a permanent collection showing the breadth of the wood art field, a research library, and an eclectic mix of merchandise in the Museum Store. The Center is open Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 5pm and Saturday 12pm – 5pm. Admission is free. Donations support the Center’s educational mission. For more information, please call 215-923-8000, email or visit www.woodturningcenter.org.

Programming at the Center is supported in part by generous funding from the following Foundations, Sponsors and Cambium Circle Members: Joel Assouline, Lee Bender, Fleur Bresler, Bruce and Eleanor Heister, Henry Jordan, Neil and Susan Kaye; Bruce Kaiser, Deena and Jerome Kaplan, Stephen C. Keeble and Karen Depew, Tim and Sheryl Kochman, Len and Norma Klorfine, Alan LeCoff, Albert and Tina LeCoff, Ed Levy, Judson Randall, Greg and Regina Rhoa, Norton Rockler, National Endowment for the Arts; Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Philadelphia Cultural Fund; anonymous foundation, and Friends of the Wood Turning Center. Corporate Sponsors include Oneway Manufacturing, Packard Woodworks, Penn State Industries, rakovaBRECKERgallery, and Stubby Lathe USA, Inc.

The Wood Turning Center participates in First Friday Openings in conjunction with the Old City Arts Association

The Wood Turning Center is a nonprofit art and educational organization whose mission is the encouragement and enhancement of individuals creating art from wood and other materials with a primary focus on turned and carved wood objects, and promoting public appreciation of such art.

Contact: Ron Humbertson
Email:
Images available upon request

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