please, think Summer!…
It's a special privilege to hold an exhibition against apparently considerable odds in such a wonderful and magical location. Thanks to Jim and Kim both for sticking with our shared plan (laid out over a year ago) and remaining so enthusiastic in spite of the vicissitudes.
Jim advised us, please think Summer! People need cheering up! Indeed they —we all—do. It was with this in mind that we have composed this exhibition, drawing on our long history of exuberant use of color, as well as, increasingly, a somewhat expanded and more extravagant sense of form. The Novae Species series begun a few years ago intend to embrace whimsy as well as foible, a kind of mirror of humanity and our environment embracing both dignity and caricature all at once. Not mocking, rather honoring all these things, while seeking to expand on our own sense of the joy of life.
The work in this exhibition celebrates two particular techniques we have used for a very long time: incalmo, the joining together of two blown pieces while hot, and cold-worked batutto cutting, which has been our signature for more than 25 years. For the first time, for this exhibition, we have incorporated the Swedish overlay technique in the Novae Species, cutting through multiple layers of color in the body of the pieces.
Working under lockdown in preparing for this show, we invited our two French assistants, Philomène and Léon to live with us on our old farm, thus allowing us to continue working normally. We have been very privileged to do so, and we are most grateful for the opportunity to share some of the results with Jim and Kim, and you.
Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg
Hares Green, Wales
August, 2020
Ten major works were installed in 2018 at Canterbury Cathedra for Baldwin Guggisberg’s exhibition Under an Equal Sky, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War.
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Here are some of the process’ the artists use in their hot-shop and cold-working studio, located in the Dutch barn which Monica and Philip converted in Wales.
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Available Works by Baldwin Guggisberg
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About the Artists
A Multicultural Celebration, 2018
Philip Baldwin (1947) and Monica Guggisberg (1955), have been a collaborative team for over forty years. They share an instinctive appreciation for the subtle blending of art and design, functionality and abstract expression, combined with a love of material – especially glass. Over time their work has developed its own distinctive signature, based in Italian cold -working battuto combined with the Swedish overlay process for layering colors. They have been pioneers in adapting these techniques and in creating a distinct expression of their own. Color, light, texture, pattern, and shape together reveal an undercurrent of meaning and value, adhering to the simplest of forms and clear lines. Over the years they have become more sculptural in focus, while seeking to imbue their work with a deep connection to archetypal forms and shapes, and striving for the highest level of craftsmanship. They address eternal symbols of human culture and history, while embracing contemporary evolution in form and meaning. In recent years large installations and major exhibitions in public spaces, such as Canterbury Cathedral in 2018, and more recently The Glasmuseum Ebeltoft in Denmark 2020-2021) increasingly reflect their concerns for the shared world of our times, highlighting some of the challenges while continuing to express their love for beauty in form and object. They now live and work in rural Wales.
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Click below to view catalog and read essay…
PHOTOS: Mary Van Cline (Portrait); Alex Ramsey, professional studio shots.