David Reekie
Although glass is my main medium I do not glorify it as a material, in fact I manipulate it in a way that almost destroys its beauty to create a much darker feel to my ideas. I also like to use other materials and found objects in my work that fit to the narrative I am trying to form.
I am driven by a desire to make things and during this making process I have the effects and qualities of glass in my mind. There are also elements of both design and decoration in my work. I see the work as pieces of theatre and because I use the human figure I find it relatively simple to introduce a narrative which suggests any particular theme or idea I am working on at that time.
The human condition and politics are always constant influences. In my current work I am investigating relationships. By using the juxtaposition of the figures, facial expressions, especially the position of the eyes and the angle of the head I try to indicate subtle nuances in our relationships with each other. I combine all these influences in my drawings and these eventually filter through to the work.
Casting and lost wax casting are my main techniques and I find these processes allow me to explore and develop my ideas even before I touch the glass. By modelling in clay and wax I have the freedom to gradually build my ideas and change things as I go along. I have also developed the use of ceramic enamel colours that can be fused into the glass or painted onto the surface of the mould to create effects that mirror those in my drawings.
David Reekie. March 2010.
Born 1947 Born: Hackney, London
Education
1967-70 Stourbridge College of Art
1972-73 Birmingham College of Art Education
1975-80 Fellow in Glass, Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts
Awards
1998 Awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study Altenative Architecural Glass in USA
Shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize
1996 Shortlisted for Coburg Glass Prize
Exhibitions
2010 Spring Show, Koru Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
Take Thirty, Broadfield House Glass Museum
2009 38th International Glass Invitational, Habatat Galleries, USA
SOFA Santa Fe, USA
Glass Weekend 08, Wheaton Village, New Jersey, USA
Clearly Drawn, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales
Melting Point, Pyramid Gallery, York
SOFA Chicago, Thomas R Riley Galleries
pAn Amsterdam, Etienne Gallery
Palm Beach3, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London with Scottish Gallery
2008 Palm Beach3, USA Thomas R Riley Galleries Exchange of Information, Dan Klein Associates
Collect V&A Museum, London
2007 Palm Beach3, USA Thomas R Riley Galleries
Verriales
Galerie Internatinale Du Verre, Biot, France
2006 Palm Beach3 Contemporary, USA. Thomas R Riley Galleries
2005 Talking to Strangers, One man show at Thomas R Riley galleries, Cleveland, Ohio
21st Century British Glass, Danial Katz Gallier/ Dan Klein associates, DUAL VISION, The Simona and Jerome Chazen Collection,
Museum of Arts & Design, New York, SOFA New York, Thomas R Riley Galleries, The Art of Craft, Medici Gallery, London
Glass Collectors Weekend, Wheaton Village, New Jersey, Verriales 2005. Galerie Internationale du Verre, Biot, France
2004 Palm Beach Contemporary, USA. Thomas R Riley Galleries the Human Condition. The Figure in British Art 1950-2002 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.
British Glass Biennale
Commissions
2001 A Human Oddity ?. A Millennium Commission for Broadfield House Glass Museum, Kingswinford, West Midlands.
2000 A Captive Audience ?. The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
1990 Glass Heads, Crystal Leisure Centre, Stourbridge, Dudley Arts Council
1987 Ove Arup & Partners, Structural Engineers Award, Lloyds Building, London Hop Studios,
Melville Lion, London Clerici Barry Associates, Lighting, London
1982 Jolly Brewers Public House, Lighting, Lincoln
Public Collections
Portsmouth Museum & Art Gallery
Broadfield House Glass Museum
Usher Art Gallery, Lincoln
Pilkington Glass Museum, St Helens
Norwich Castle Museum, Contemporary Glass Collection
Glasmuseum Ebletoft, Denmark
Crafts Council Collection, London
Victoria & Albert Museum, Contemporary Glass Collection, London
Manchester City Art Galleries
Musee-Atelier du Verre de Sars Poteries, France
Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery
The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA
Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, USA
Tutsek Foundation, Munich, Germany
Shipley Art Gallery
Glass Art Fund, Strasbourg, France
National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh
Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts