Marvin Lipofsky, 1978. Image courtesy of the artist.
The imaginative, irascible Marvin Lipofsky was among the first to join the American studio glass movement, and something of an international ambassador for the medium. He got his start thanks to Harvey Littleton, who taught him at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Lipofsky then went on to build the glass program at the University of California, Berkeley, working alongside Ed Rossbach and Peter Voulkos, before moving on to the California College of Arts and Crafts. His formative work of the late 1960s, such as the California Loops series, stretched the possibilities of the emergent discipline through inventive extensions of the vessel and surface treatments such as sandblasting and flocking.
While certainly in tune with West Coast psychedelic and Funk currents, Lipofksy was anything but a regionalist. He traveled far and wide and was crucial in establishing a network between America and historic glass centers in Scandinavia, Italy, and Czechoslovakia. In so doing, he helped build a vital conduit for craft knowledge. Lipofsky’s own work became increasingly more technically complex, setting the pace for the field as it matured in the 1970s and after.
No More War early sculptural vessel from the California Series in silvered and flocked glass. Designed and made by Marvin Lipofsky, USA, 1968 (signed and dated).
7" L x 14" W x 6" H
17.8cm L x 35.6cm W x 15.2cm H
SG2262
Courtesy of Heller Gallery