May 18 Opening of Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective
CMoG Commissions Multimedia Artists Einar and Jamex de la Torre to Create a New Work for Museum’s Permanent Collection, Visitors Had the Opportunity to Watch the Process.
I had the pleasure of participating in an exciting and enlightening media day trip to the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) in Corning, NY to preview a breathtaking new commission for the Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective.
The Corning Museum of Glass is home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of glass, tracing 35 centuries of glassmaking history, artistry and technology. During the trip, we had the opportunity to meet Einar and Jamex de la Torre, see their upcoming collection and preview the exhibition with the CMoG curator.
The trip to Corning Museum of Glass featured an itinerary of exciting events, including a Hard Hat Tour of the expansion of StudioNEXT – (expanded programs to help young people and other individuals overcome social, financial, and academic barriers to art), an opportunity to make our own glass at The Studio with the help of highly experienced glassmakers, and a VIP tour with Selene Precede the Curator of the Collidoscope collection.
The CMoG commission is one of the de la Torre brothers’ largest works to date at 12 feet in diameter. Inspired by Aztec calendar stones, the wall-mounted, circular sculpture will be composed of multicolored blown glass pieces created in CMoG’s Amphitheater Hot Shop, combined with other found elements.
The unique and exceptionally intricate Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective highlights the brothers’ artistic production and encompasses almost three decades of work. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the de la Torre Brothers moved to the United States as children and have collaborated artistically since the 1990s. Einar and Jamex de la Torre are known for their notable evolving approach that results in layers of thematic depth and meaning in each finished piece. Today the brothers live and work on both sides of the border, splitting their time between San Diego, California, and the Guadalupe Valley of Baja California, Mexico.
Selene Preciado (see highlights above) gave an informative tour of the entire collection breaking down the significance of each piece and the cultural influences which inspired the brother’s creative process. Selene, similar to the brothers is also a citizen of both the U.S. and Mexico and expressed the complexities of the immigrant experience within bicultural identities.
The exhibition features many elements that echo the creative process of Einar and Jamex, such as the titles of their work, their technical use of materials and media, their use or wordplay and poetic riddles which all serve as an allegory of their intellectual pursuits.
“The complexities of the immigrant experience and contradicting bicultural identities, as well as our current life and practice on both sides of the border, really propel our narrative and aesthetics,” Einar said.
The pair also cites religious iconography, German expressionism, and Mexican vernacular arts as influencing factors in their work.
Collidoscope was made possible through a collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino and The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum (“The Cheech”). Support for the national tour was generously provided by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino. The exhibition premiered in Riverside, California as part of the grand opening of The Cheech on June 18, 2022. Since then, the exhibition has traveled to El Paso, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) announces that Einar and Jamex de la Torre will be in residence at CMoG in May 2024. The brothers and artistic duo will be working in CMoG’s Amphitheater Hot Shop in advance of the opening of Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective. On view beginning May 18, 2024, the exhibition will feature more than 40 mixed-media works incorporating hot-glass elements, lenticular prints, resin, and a wide variety of carefully selected found Objects.
“We are thrilled to welcome Einar and Jamex to The Corning Museum of Glass,” said Kathy Fredrickson, Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs at The Corning Museum of Glass.
“These important contemporary artists are groundbreaking in their incorporation of blown-glass elements into works of mixed media. Their work offers a unique perspective on Mexican American culture, combining humor with critical commentary on art, history, religion, and politics.”
CMoG’s Collidoscope installation will be the first scheduled viewing on the East Coast, and is the only one that provides a forum for the brothers to work on site prior to the exhibition opening. While at CMoG, the de la Torre Brothers will collaborate with the Museum’s Hot Glass Team in creating work in their colorful and distinctive style. Visitors will have the opportunity to watch the brothers working in daily live shows and live-streamed sessions.
The Corning Museum of Glass
The world’s largest space dedicated to the display of contemporary art and design in glass. The Corning Museum of Glass is the foremost authority on the art, history, and science of glass. It is home to the world’s most important collection of glass, including the finest examples of glassmaking spanning 3,500 years. Live glassblowing demonstrations (offered at the Museum and on the road), bring the material to life.
Daily Make Your Own Glass experiences at the Museum enable visitors to create work in a state-of-the-art glassmaking studio. The campus in Corning includes The Studio, a year-round glassmaking school, and the Rakow Research Library, with the world’s preeminent collection of materials on the art and history of glass. Located in the heart of the Finger Lakes Wine Country of New York State, the Museum is open daily, year-round. Children and teens, 17 and under, receive free admission.
Events
The Corning Museum of Glass hosts numerous events throughout the year for visitors of all ages. Some of the most popular events include: Little Gather (free summer kids program – storytelling, puppet shows, magic shows, music & more); 2300 Degrees (free themed events featuring live glassmaking demonstrations by guest artists and live music); and Behind the Glass Lectures (Meet the Artists lectures, talks by curators, writers and historians, free lectures)
Studio NEXT
We got a Hard-Hat Tour of the expanding StudioNEXT space with the Director of The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, Amy Schwartz.
THE WORLD’S PREMIER GLASS STUDIO IS GETTING EVEN BETTER
Since its inception, The Studio has been a place where artists realize their greatest ambitions. As The Studio’s reach and reputation have grown, so has demand for services, programs, and resources.
To foster unbridled creative expression and push the conceptual and technical boundaries of art in glass forward, The Studio must keep pace.
Once complete, StudioNEXT will meet the increased demand and recast the trajectory of art in glass in the process. Building on The Studio’s legacy as an intersection of artists, connoisseurs, students, resources, and researchers, StudioNEXT will provide more technology, more community, and more opportunities to innovate.
The Studio includes space for visitors to make work, a Residency center and workrooms for colored glass pieces, heat fusing, mold casting, hot shops, glass blowing, flame working and more. The famed Residency Program provides new dedicated spaces and longer residencies for artists. The $55.3M project has created the preeminent international center for artists and students working in glass, underscoring the importance of glass as a major medium for contemporary artistic practice. By expanding and enhancing The Studio’s infrastructure, the project creates the only facility in North America that can accommodate large-scale works in cast glass: deepens the glassmaking education programs for students on all levels; offers expanded residency opportunities, and serves many more visitors each day.
The program supports students and artists all over the world with top glass blowing techniques, and about 50 different classes including stained glass and additional engraving studios. There are many programs and opportunities for skilled established artists where they can not only learn but bond and build friendships and partnerships.
The expansion will increase the number of Artists-in-Residence (AiR) The Studio can accommodate annually and extend residency duration for participants in the world-renowned program.
It will also introduce the two-year Glassmaking Institute certificate program offering intensive practical training in glassmaking and professional development opportunities to 12 students annually, outside a formal BFA or MFA program; and scale up its Make Your Own Glass (MYOG) experience for Museum visitors by expanding the number of participants each day and the number of available slots for glassmaking with a new in-depth glassblowing and a new engraving and printing on a glass plate experience.
The new program start in Sept 2025 for the glassmaking institution which is a two-year program and not university degree, members find their own housing. This program accepts about 12 students a year to learn the history of glass and contemporary glass. This program is $15,000 year and a Certificate program.
Twelve outstanding artists and scholars from around the world – each selected for their skill, potential, and dedication to their work – comprise CMoG’s 2024 roster of residencies, and each will spend three to five weeks expanding their practice or undertaking research, The Artists-in-residence (AiR) beginning their residences in September will be the first to experience the Wendell Weeks & Kim Frock Residency Center. Boasting seven well-equipped studios surrounding a light-filled lounge, the Residency Center will serve as a central space for creative collaboration and interaction among students. Student residents will also have full access to the new technology center’s resources, which include CNC machines, 3-D printers, neon-making facilities, a mold shop, a metal shop, and a wood shop. Residents will have access to dedicated furnace time and the full breadth of resources of CMoG’s collection and library.
The Corning Museum of Glass was featured in the Netflix Blown Away reality show.
Can’t get enough of the Netflix glassblowing competition series Blown Away? on April 25, the Museum hosted Blown Away artists Morgan Peterson, Gemma Hollister, and Ryan Thompson as well as other participants and cast for a day of fiery, interactive fun!
Here’s what to expect from the expansion:
- More than double the space, from 24,000 to 60,000 sq. ft.
- The first large-scale kiln casting facility in North America, featuring 6 large kilns, a 500-pound gravity-feed casting furnace, mold-making and cold-working rooms, and a 1,000-pound overhead crane system
- The chance for aspiring artists to advance their skills through a two-year intensive training program
- Expanded programs to help young people and other individuals overcome social, financial, and academic barriers to art
- Double the capacity of Make Your Own Glass, creating more keystone experiences among visitors
- New partnerships that will create more opportunities for diverse voices in glass
- An expanded artists-in-residence program, increasing the number of residencies per year and offering variations in residency duration
- Additional leading-edge glassmaking technologies, including CNC machines, 3D printers, neon-making facilities, a wood shop, and a metal shop
Make Your Own Glass https://visit.cmog.org/onsite-visitor-guide/make-your-own-glass
From hot glassworking to fusing, to sandblasting—you and your family can do just about anything with glass, with the help of our experienced glassworkers.
- Opportunities exist for all ages.
- No experience is necessary.
These short experiences vary in length from 15 minutes for hot glass projects to 40 minutes for fusing and sandblasting projects.
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