Exhibition Dates: August 3 – September 14, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 3 from 6–9 pm (in conjunction with “White Linen Night”)
Gallery Location: 432 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–5 pm
Contact Info: 504.522.1999; www.arthurrogergallery.com

The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present Sunrise, an exhibition of recent glass sculpture by Gene Koss. The exhibition will be on view at Arthur Roger Gallery, located at 432 Julia Street, from August 3 – September 14, 2013. The gallery will host an opening reception with the artist in attendance, Saturday, August 3 from 6-9 pm in conjunction with “White Linen Night.”

Sunrise, 2013. Cast glass and steel, 144 x 165 x 117 inches.

Gene Koss blends simple process with advanced fabrication techniques to create glass sculptures that reveal the constant inspiration provided by the rural landscapes of his youth and life. The internationally known artist’s vision remains profoundly humanist, yet this recent work presents an intentional rawness. Several of the works in this exhibition incorporate found object pieces that have been woven in with the artist’s own dialogue. The work ranges in scale from large cast glass and steel sculptures to smaller blocks dubbed “glass drawings.”

The featured sculpture, Sunrise, is inspired by a view in west central Wisconsin where Gene Koss grew up and regularly returns. The artist describes the view as, “that of the people who work the land and look up a valley at the Wisconsin ridges and hills as they toil.”

Gene Koss left rural Wisconsin in 1974 after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls. He then earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Philadelphia. Developing a new glass facility and program for Tulane University brought him to New Orleans in 1976. Since that time he has been greatly involved in the development of the city’s glass artistry as head of the Glass Department at Tulane University where he has developed one of the most important programs in North America.

Gene Koss is the recipient of several awards including the National Endowment for the Arts, The New Orleans Community Arts Board and Pace-Willson Art Foundation grants. His work has been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, Louisiana, the Sculpture Center in New York City, as well as the International Biennale for Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy. His work is in many prominent collections including the Pan American Life Collection and the Corning Museum of Art in New York.