Though not quite following the 2-year interval its name suggests (it was last held back in 2011), the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial is an exhibition and celebration of regional artwork, and, thanks to a new program at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, it also includes fresh expressions in glass thanks to the pairing of artists who don't work in glass with skilled glass makers. In the 20 years since the biennial exhibition was launched at the Center for the Arts, it has steadily grown to become the largest showcase of contemporary art in Western Pennsylvania, and has spread out to take place at several venues in the Pittsburgh area.
In total, seven organizations, including the Pittsburgh Glass Center (PGC), have partnered together to display biennial works through the fall. The glass works will premiere Friday, August 1st, 2014 at the glass center. The exhibition will feature the collaborative pieces of glass and non-glass artists, an extension of the PGC’s Idea Furnace, which gives artists unfamiliar with the medium of glass a chance to utilize it in their work. The seven non-glass artists, who ranged in expertise from printmakers to sculptors, were joined by five glass artists.
“The thing that was really great about the artists that didn’t work with glass came in with no preconceptions,” said Heather McElwee, PGC executive director and curator of the Biennial at Pittsburgh Glass Center. “They were able to dream big because they didn’t know what was and wasn’t possible.”
The Biennial at Pittsburgh Glass Center opens with a free public reception on August 1 from 6pm to 9 and runs through October 26.
IF YOU GO:
2014 Pittsburgh Biennial August 1—October 26, 2014 Pittsburgh Glass Center 5472 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15206 Tel: (412) 365-2145 Website