The International Year of Glass

February 25, 2022

The Spring 2022 exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (MCAM) features works related to glass from local and international artists. MCAM hosted the exhibitions related to glass in conjunction with the United Nations declaration of 2022 as the International Year of Glass.

The South Gallery features New York Artist Joseph Cavalieri – Focus on 5 - using his two loves of painted stained glass and oil on canvas, Cavalieri energetically combines familiar and unknown subjects in a refreshing and very detailed manner. He is intrigued by the cross-pollination of cultures, especially of the US and Asia. Unique visual collaborations are created through his personal vision of shiny plastic Funko toys, popular Star Trek personalities and Soviet architecture.

Joseph Cavalieri grew up in Pleasantville, NY, the youngest of seven children. His mother noticed his passion for drawing at a young age and sent him to art classes.

“I always loved art and being creative. I related to my art teachers better than others.” One of Cavalieri's biggest inspirations is his former college professor, iconic graphic designer Milton Glaser. Glaser designed major posters for Bob Dylan and the iconic I Love New York slogan. “His class was so good for learning - we had to redesign a storefront, a CD cover, redesign a book cover, make our own magazine, and a lot of projects that you do professionally as a graphic designer,” said Cavalieri.

Cavalieri has a diverse background as a graphic designer and art director with more than twenty years in the publishing industry in New York City at People, GQ and Good Housekeeping magazines. In 2000 he began his career as an artist and educator working in glass. In 2019 he began painting in oil.

“[In] my exhibit at MCAM, Focus on 5, there are 19 paintings, based on toys that are my favorites. I actually bought the real toy itself, photographed it and painted it. I did the paintings over the last two years. I also have six stained glass pieces. It's a very first show that I'm doing where I'm showing two different sides of my personality,” said Cavalieri.

Cavalieri’s art can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, the Italian American Museum, the Leslie-Lohman Museum and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Public art commissions include an MTA Arts for Transit public art installation in New York and a six-foot round stained glass window at Our Lady of Sorrow Church on the island of Itaparica in Brazil.

The SRP Gallery features Arizona artist Troy Moody – Meminisse - whose career spans more than two decades, and he is known for his innovative, expressive art glass assemblages.

“Art is all I have ever known. It's the only thing I've ever considered doing. I still have my little bubble gum artists award from kindergarten. Art was always something that I was pursuing. But I had no idea what it meant to actually be a professional artist. And so I've just kind of stumbled from project to project and chased every opportunity that came along,” said Moody.

Moody combines the nuance of kiln-formed color fields of glass with various acrylic mediums to capture anachronistic imagery and automatic painting, evoking an unexpected visual optimism.

Through glass, steel, acrylics and found objects, Moody’s latest body of work is inspired by our relationships with the material world and the by-products of our cultural narratives.

“This body of work was all created, basically within the span of a year. Some of the pieces are made of cannibalized older work that was reimagined, maybe cut up and reinvented but the work is admittedly very self-indulgent. It was a wonderful opportunity to lock myself away in the studio and just focus on doing work. That felt right at the time, it helped me process whatever I was going through in that moment. I was able to go back to being that 13-year-old kids with a sketchbook and just draw and imagen and create. I’m just incredibly tickled to be able to now show off the work at MCAM,” said Moody.

The Project Room features artist Ana M Lopez – Air Currency – the Texas metalsmith is the 42^nd Annual Contemporary Crafts exhibition Juror’s Choice winner.

“I was fortunate that my parents had always embraced participation in cultural institutions. I was taken to museums, Broadway plays and musical performances throughout my life. I did my undergraduate work at Miami of Ohio, where I majored in art with concentrations in sculpture, metalsmithing and jewelry. Then I pursued my MFA in Metalsmithing at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Detroit, Michigan. Later I got my Master’s in History of American Decorative Arts from the Parsons School of Design,” said Lopez.

Lopez presents a series of enameled metal sculptures that address our increasingly complex relationship with air conditioning and ventilation. Typically mass-produced by industrial processes, Lopez uses laborious craft processes to recreate the ubiquitous, invisible forms that populate many rooftops and exterior walls for artificial air handling. She merges the decorative and industrial arts, creating a conversation about wealth, display, power, and privilege as they relate to this modern amenity.

“I am attracted to the metal forms that talk about how buildings breathe. I love the geometric simplicity, modularity and fitness to function of ductwork. My eye is drawn to louvered vent covers inside and HVAC components hidden on roofs or behind buildings when outside. Several pieces reproduce domestic vent covers with louver heights altered to mimic the skylines of cities that could not exist as they are without air conditioning, like Phoenix, Arizona. Some of the finished works are presented in the format of garnitures: sets of decorative accessories typically comprised of imported porcelain or artful bronze work meant to reflect taste and wealth. My favorite piece in the show is “Rooftop Garniture: Louvers.” It was the last piece I finished before the show went up, and the enamel effects just came out so nicely it was hard to let it go! As for my favorite piece of all time, it is always the one I am about to start – those are always perfect in my head and full of promise,” said Lopez.

The North Gallery is artist Jennifer Caldwell & Jason Chakravarty - Head in the Clouds - Arizona artists Jennifer Caldwell and Jason Chakravarty create narrative driven glass sculptures.

Caldwell was born raised in California. Her mom was a very creative and avid painter.

“Paint, glue and glitter were readily available and encouraged in my home. Art was part of my daily life,” said Jennifer Caldwell. Jennifer fell in love with glass while apprenticing at a small retail studio in Lahaina, Maui.

Chakravarty was born in Texas but moved to Arizona when he was 10. He really enjoyed doing things with his hands, using tools and building things.

“As a kid, I spent a lot of time ‘fixing’ BMX bikes. I also built/rebuilt/remodeled a makeshift tree house. Which all of this then translated into my artwork later on in life,” said Jason Chakravarty.

His interest in art started in high school, he graduated in 2000 from ASU with a BFA, he enrolled in the graduate program at CSU Fullerton, graduating with an MFA in 2005.

Caldwell and Chakravarty met in 2012 and began collaborating a couple of years later.

Their current exhibit at MCAM consists of ten sculptural glass objects and two site specific installations. This exhibit brings together the artists’ observation and an optimistic response to their surroundings during the pandemic.

“Included is ‘Shelter From the Storm’ which is a glass umbrella displayed handle up. A puddle of glass with a glass paper boat rests in base of the canopy. ‘Make. Believe’ We worked through the entire casting process to make 1000 glass cranes. This involved pouring a wax into a rubber mold. Removing and cleaning that wax. Pouring plaster over the wax and melting out the wax. Glass is then heated up and slowly fills into the mold. Once cool, the plaster is broken away and the glass is cut, ground, signed and sealed. Repeat 1000+ times within one year with no assistance,” said Chakravarty.

“This work is not intended to send or deliver an overpowering statement. The goal is to engage the audience using nostalgic imagery to investigate the recent forced introspective and empirical landscape. Find comfort, smile, and dust off an old memory,” said Chadwell.

Presented in the Dobson Gallery is the 43^rd Annual Contemporary Crafts exhibition. A national juried exhibition of all craft media. Highlighting the finest in contemporary crafts from across the country, this has become a benchmark for innovation and quality. Representative of traditional craft mediums including ceramics, fibers, basketry, metals, wood, glass, jewelry, papermaking and book arts, this exhibition showcases 45 artworks by 36 artists, representing 15 states.

These exhibitions at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum are supported in part by Arizona Glass Alliance and Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.

The Spring 2022 exhibitions are on display now. Closing dates vary from March 27 to April 24. MCAM is always FREE and open Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more about our Spring Exhibitions.