Odysseus's Garden by Bryan Rubino, as seen through the front plate glass of Fulcrum Gallery, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma (with reflected street scene).
This past weekend, the child and I made another trip to Fulcrum Gallery, our third or fourth in as many months to see the latest exhibit by glass artist Bryan Rubino. Odysseus's Garden is magnificent. The central pieces consist of eight foot poles of glass "bamboo" that are mounted either on steel rods or in steel cups attached to a steel base plate. The three largest gatherings of "bamboo" are red, frosted clear, and green. Three smaller gatherings consist of clear "bamboo" with neon tubing to illuminate them—red, blue, green.
The best part, however, was gallery owner Oliver Doriss coming out and telling tales about the construction of individual pieces. He told us how Bryan forms the individual sections of bamboo, sands down the ends, and glues them together. He showed us how they are mounted on their bases, as well as the weight and motion of individual stalks.
He informed us of upcoming shows. He gave us a "sneak peek" of pieces for his installation at Showcase Tacoma.
He regaled us with stories of how Bryan Rubino ended up showing his work at Fulcrum, of artists and persons of note in the local and regional glass art scene. We shared stories about art and dreams and imaginings.
We discussed his Skyponds exhibit.
Oliver Doriss is a generous person in his many guises—as artist, as collaborator, as gallery owner, as impresario, as critic. That was apparent in our conversation and is apparent in his work and the way that he runs and maintains his gallery.
You need to meet him now. Stop by Fulcrum to see and hear what I mean.
1 comment:
It is so weird. I swear (and I think I told you) our lives are constantly crossing paths. Oliver is such an uber-cool dude. I was just at Fulcrum on Monday. I volunteered to be an "intern" but I am probably not hip enough for that crowd. :)
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