Penland's 28th Annual Benefit Auction, August 9 - 10, 2013

Featured Work

These artworks will be part of Penland's 2013 Annual Benefit Auction, which takes place August 9 -10. You may bid by attending the auction or as an absentee bidder by paying a $25 bidding fee (includes printed catalog).

Click here for complete auction information, including reservations and a schedule of events.

Or call 828-765-2359, ext. 30 or e-mail

auction@penland.org

Randy Shull, Juxtaposition in Black and White;

wood, acrylic, 92 x 73 x 18 inches

"Studying this work recently in Randy Shull's studio at Asheville's Pink Dog Creative, as the artist formed it into varying configurations, explaining how "this could be a table, here, or, it could be part of a tall chair, like this, or perhaps a leaning sculptural element, like this," I thought about the rapid evolution of his artistic vision since 2008, the year his career was documented in a major retrospective exhibition, Randy Shull: Crossing Boundaries. As he continued to compose, then stand back, looking at his reconfigured work, I suggested that its distinctive design might be viewed as this artist's reflection on the iconic Swiss army knife, a classic design object intended to be used, and configured, as the owner needs, or desires. He smiled, kept moving it, then paused to explain the process he used to apply the work's many layers of pigment, painting and sanding it, building his surface and distinctive texture, until he decided, finally, that it was finished.

"The restrained colors used in Juxtaposition in Black & White, its assured form, its skilled craftsmanship, and the creative imagination embodied in it combine to remind me of the artist's statement in the catalogue for Crossing Boundaries, an exhibition I was honored to host in New Orleans, during my tenure as Director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. "In my life, in my work, and in my travels," he said, "I like the excitement of crossing boundaries... Sometimes it is painting, sometimes it is furniture design, sometimes it is architecture, sometimes it is garden design, sometimes it is travel."

"Juxtaposition in Black & White incorporates the new directions he discovers in contemporary painting, sculpture and furniture making, and embodies his accomplished sense of architectural and interior design (as evident at Pink Dog Creative). Accordingly, it is a milestone piece, one that builds upon the foundations of his earlier, well-known works, yet reflects Randy Shull's ongoing exploration of creative and technical possibilities, as well as his restless desire to continue "crossing boundaries.""

– J. Richard Gruber, Ph.D.

Director Emeritus of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Mark Peiser, Passage Etude Tableau #1;

hot cast, dichroic phase separated glass, ground and acid finished, 16-1/4 x 21-3/4 x 6 inches

"It has been my pleasure to follow the career of Mark Peiser for many years and to have collaborated with him and others on Looking Within: Mark Peiser, The Art of Glass, an important solo exhibition and publication at the Asheville Art Museum in 2003/2004.

"For more than 40 years Mark Peiser has been perfecting techniques to better understand his chosen material- glass- while striving to communicate his sense of the world in which we all live. From his home and studio in Penland, NC he has been, and remains, at the epicenter of the Studio Glass movement, and one of its most acclaimed practitioners.

"Mark says that he has "always wanted to see glass as atmosphere not featureless transparency" he has also wanted to see glass "as if it were volumes of colored light". These pursuits are threaded through and particularly apparent in his Paperweight Vases (1975-1981), his Innerspace Pieces (1983-1994) his Forms of Consciousness (1994-2003) and his most recent Palomar series.

"Music is also a constant in Mark's life and work. It is fitting that he has chosen to adopt Etude Tableau (study pictures) as the title for this new series. Taken from the title of a collection of piano pieces by Serge Rachmaninoff from the early 20th century, the music and the works in Mark's new Passage series are designed to isolate technique and open up new possibilities for exploration.

"Likewise Mark's fascination with the sky has been a recurring theme. He has shared with us his re-visioning of the sky over the years, while exploring format, process and material.

"The sky transmits color by refraction, likewise the glass Mark created for this Passage series, depending on it thickness, transmits all of the colors of the rainbow. Does Passage Etude Tableau 1, 2013 show us the beginning of a day, at dawn, or the ending, at dusk? I expect that for those who will be fortunate enough to live with this work, the view and the possibilities will be ever changing."

– Pamela L. Myers

Executive Director of the Asheville Art Museum

Centerpieces by Marc Maiorana