A major force in the international studio glass movement, Klaus Moje has pushed the expressive and technical possibilities of glass for more than five decades. In a comprehensive, 30-year survey, the Museum of Arts and Design traces the progression of Moje’s work, from his early carved crystal glass pieces to his intricately patterned vessels of layered glass, to his recent multipanel fused works.
On view from Wednesday, April 29, through Sunday, September 20, “Klaus Moje: Painting with Glass” features 68 objects, including a new large-scale mural made specifically for this exhibition as well as many never-before-shown works from private collections. The exhibition illustrates the dominant shapes and aesthetics of the artist’s work and reflects his unparalleled contributions to the field of glass art.
Moje’s work is an exploration of color †the kind of saturated, luminescent color that is only possible with glass †and his works of fused glass are elaborate, abstract arrangements of brilliant hues. He chose early in his career to work with standardized set of reductive shapes †the circle, the square †that invoke the historic form of a functional shallow bowl.
In later years, he occasionally expanded his repertoire to include simple cylinders and boxes and, most recently, flat panels. Within this fairly rigid format, he has experimented with dramatic color contrasts and with geometric and abstract pattern to create a body of work that is exceptional in its richness and beauty.
A highlight of the exhibition is a massive four-panel work, “The Portland Panels: Choreographed Geometry,” created especially for this exhibit. Composed of more than 22,000 hand cut strips of glass fused together at the Bullseye Glass factory studios in Portland and totaling 74½ by 218 inches, this work is a stunning technical achievement.
In addition to including several of his recent works, the exhibition includes many of Moje’s very rare early pieces. It also provides a perspective on the artist’s changing aesthetic as he experimented with new techniques, and a greater palette of colors became available to him.
The Museum of Arts and Design is at 2 Columbus Circle. For information, 212-299-7777 or www.madmuseum.org .
