The wall is made from more than 180 glass postcards to celebrate the festival and pay tribute to picture postcards.
A stunning glass wall made from more than 180 glass postcards is set to wow visitors to the 2015 Wish You Were Here being held in Stourbridge, UK this May.
The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is a charitable organization which represents the interests of glassmakers within the national and international community, with more than 800 members worldwide. Members of CGS have created the idiosyncratic pieces to celebrate both the festival itself and pay tribute to the humble, old-fashioned picture postcard. Keeping faithful to the idea of sharing a message or story with the recipient, each piece tells a tale in the space of just10cm x 15cm.
Wish You Were Here: a wall of glass postcards features a range of quirky, fun and sometimes just stunning pieces of art, all carefully created in glass. The variety of colours and techniques employed means that no two pieces are the same, whether it’s an etched black bear reaching out for a much-needed hug, layered amber-toned glass evoking the wild shores of Ardalanish and its weaving heritage, a jolly burst of colour from joyously rounded stained glass clouds or a more sedate long legged fused glass bird with gleaming dichroic beak and wings, the achievements of these CGS artists in creating a works of art on such a small scale is remarkable.
Each postcard in the exhibition will go on sale with prices ranging from £50 -£150 for a unique piece of fun contemporary art. The exhibition has been made possible by the generous support of private donor and member of the CGS Mark Holford, and craft & design magazine. Additional supporters are Kilncare, Alan J Poole and John Agnew. The exhibition runs from Friday 29 May to Sunday 28 June, with an opening event on Thursday 28 May. Admission to the exhibition is free, with the exception of 28 – 31 May when the Ruskin Glass Centre charges an admission fee during the glass festival.
Wish You Were Here is among scores of exhibitions, workshops and events taking place from 28 – 31 May in Stourbridge’s historic glass quarter. Other exhibitions include breathtaking cutting-edge pieces from renowned international glass artists, spectacular installations and even celebrity doodles turned into glass. Victoria Scholes, former chair of Contemporary Glass Society, said:“Postcards have a long and fascinating history. This deceptively simple form of communication is more than just words and pictures. It delivers a glimpse of another life, a renewed friendship, a shared joke with a specially chosen image that all say so much with so little. The Contemporary Glass Society has challenged its members to send in a glass postcard and the result is a stunning exhibition of more than 150 glass postcards.” The festival also hosts the British Glass Biennale which runs from 28 May – 28 June and features work from 77 artists who have been selected for this prestigious award. Artists are drawn from across the globe, including Costa Rica, South Korea, Israel, Sweden, Germany and Japan as well as glass artists living and working in the historic Stourbridge Glass Quarter.