Fog

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Object Name: 
Installation
Title: 
Fog
Accession Number: 
2012.4.53
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 365 cm, W: 170 cm, D: 81 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
2007
Web Description: 
Most contemporary mosaic, like stained glass, takes the form of independent panels or is architectural. Few artists have developed the medium for contemporary sculpture, and in this regard, Ann Gardner’s work is exceptional. She has realized ambitious architectural projects and large-scale sculpture and installations, succeeding both in taking mosaic out of the limited contexts in which it is traditionally applied and in finding new potential for the medium. Born in Eugene, Oregon, Gardner studied painting, ceramics, and drawing at the University of Oregon and at Portland State University. In 1979, she moved to Seattle, where she lives and works today. Gardner’s monumental sculptures, covered in shimmering glass tiles, can be found in buildings and public spaces throughout the country. She intends for her work to look simple and natural, which is the result of intense planning, long hours of work, and complicated installation. She employs a wide range of colors in her work, but her individual pieces are characteristically monochromatic. Fog, a 12-foot high installation composed of over 100 hanging, mosaic-covered pods, evokes the ambiguity of clouds that are opaque one moment and transparent the next. With its shifting hues of grays and whites, Fog is about moments in time. To make her glass tiles (tesserae), Gardner uses the kind of colored sheet glass commonly found in stained glass. She glues metal leaf (either silver or gold) onto the back of her glass sheets, and then she cuts the sheets into one-half-inch squares. For Gardner, paint does not have the longevity of glass, and she cannot get the kind of sustained and intense color that she prefers from any other material.
Provenance: 
Ann Gardner Studio, Source
2007
to
2012-05-14
Color: 
Primary Description: 
Installation, "Fog". Glass mosaic tiles; concrete, composite material, steel rings, steel cable. Gray and white glass mosaic tiles of many hues are cemented onto over 100 pod forms, which are made of a composite material. The tile-covered pods are strung on steel cables and hung from two large steel rings, which are suspended from the ceiling. Clad in a range of subtle gray and white mosaics, the pods evoke the shifting transparency and opacity of fog.
It's a Great Day for Glass! (2017) illustrated, p. 2; BIB# AI103753
Recent Important Acquisitions (New Glass Review 34) (2013) illustrated, p. 110, top; BIB# AI95680
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 2012 (2013) illustrated, p. 9; BIB# AI94590
The Corning Museum of Glass: Notable Acquisitions 2012 (2013) illustrated, pp. 56-57, #39; BIB# AI95675
Ann Gardner: Selected Sculptures and Commissions (2008) illustrated, pp. 2-3; BIB# 126835