hidell brooks gallery is getting excited for the opening of figures and forms:the glass sculpture of rick beck at the columbia museum of art. the exhibition opens august 20th and runs through december 8th. rick beck is a cast glass artist residing in spruce pine, north carolina. he received his mfa from southern illinois university and has taught at the penland school of art since 1988. his work is in the collections of the mint museum of craft + design, the wustum museum of fine art, the ogden museum of southern art, the asheville art museum and the columbia museum of art.
similar to a magician, artist rick beck makes us look closely at what we thought we saw, only to see something different than expected, and become surprised, delighted and amazed. in his first one-person exhibition at the cma, beck shows figures and forms sure to capture the imaginations of visitors of all ages. beck creates his glass sculptures using clay forms to create a silicone mold for recycled glass, which is fired to 1650 degrees fahrenheit. as the molten glass takes the shape of the mold, it can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months to cool to room temperature. diamond blades shape the sculptures, and their surfaces appear rough and unpolished. that is intentional. “i want light and color to pass through, but i want you to be looking at the form and the color, not at what's pretty inside of it,” beck said. light and color passing through the sculpture—instead of being on the surface only—can fool the eye and its interpretation of an object's position in space.
definitely worth a trip to the columbia! if you cannot make it down for rick's show at the museum he just delivered a new damaged angel to the gallery last week. plus we have a few of his amazing screws and spoons.
