JOHN KILEY STRUCTURE

7036 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | tel 480.970.3600 www.lewallengalleries.com | info@lewallengalleries.com

cover: Conical Shell, 2013, blown, carved & polished glass, 13.5” x 13” x 13.5”

JOHN KILEYSTRUCTURE

JOHN KILEY STRUCTURE

2

LewAllen Galleries Scottsdale presents John Kiley:Structure, an exhibition by one of the most exciting glass sculptors working today. Recognized for the exceptional formal refinement of his blown, carved, and polished glass, Kiley has earned many of glass art’s most esteemed distinctions since his career’s inception at age 19.

Trained at the Pilchuck Glass School and the Penland School of Crafts, Kiley worked for Dale Chihuly’s studio at the age of 21 and he traveled to Finland, Ireland, Mexico and Italy as part of the Chihuly Over Venice Team. He was a principal member of Lino Tagliapietra’s team until 2011 and he has been a teaching assistant to Lino Tagliapietra, Dante Marioni, Benjamin Moore, Richard Marquis, Josiah Mcelheny, Checco Ongaro and Ben Edols.

Extending the lineage of these foremost innovators in his glass sculptures, John Kiley examines the relationship between interior and exterior forms in his work, often diluting the boundary between the two. His sharp eye for both color and transparency allows him to create surfaces that blur gradients between hues—cutting spheres and dying segments to poise several colors adjacently and to achieve a dynamic spectrum of tinged light that responds readily to shifts in viewing position. Equally notable for their rigorously harmonized spatial organization, his compositions are characterized by interlocking volumes with extreme technical precision. A master of blowing and sculpting glass, Kiley strives “to create objects that push the material beyond its simple inherent beauty.”

The artist says of his work: “Constantly, I ask myself the question why do I choose to work with glass? Transparency, optics, the physical challenge, or a primal fascination with fire, are valid reasons that many glass objects are created. For me, it is important that these material attributes work in service of the

sculpture, rather than be the reason for the sculpture. I am drawn to how glass, and its perceived delicacy and preciosity, can create a sense of tension, concern and longing in the viewer (and myself). The final decision I make before a piece is complete is how it will be situated. During this final step, there is a moment when I don’t know for sure if it will survive or lie broken on the studio floor. It is in this final step that each piece finds its own unique balance; it is in this moment that the sculpture emerges and comes to life.”

John Kiley is the Glass Director for the Schack Art Center, in Everett, WA. He is the recipient of the prestigious Artist Residency for the year of 2010 at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, where he was the recipient of the “People’s Choice Award” at the annual Museum Auction. His art has been exhibited internationally, and he has taught glassblowing at the National College of Art and Design in Ireland, the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Israel, The Pittsburgh Glass Center and Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. He has worked and demonstrated in Finland, Ireland, Mexico, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, China, Australia, Brazil and Turkey.

3

Vertical Violet Peak, 2013, blown, carved, & polished glass, 15” x 10” x 9”

4

Precarious Carved Form With Lens, 2011, blown, carved, & polished glass, 14.5” x 13” x 11.5”

5

Divided Sphere, 2012, blown, carved, & polished glass, 10” x 10.5” x 10”

6

Emerald & Steel Overlap, 2012, blown, carved, & polished glass, 10” x 8.5” x 10”

7

Strait, 2011, blown, carved, & polished glass, 12 x 12” x 12”

8

Opaque Overlap, 2012, blown, carved, & polished glass, 17” x 15” x 15”

9

Curving Carved Passage, 2013, blown, carved, & polished glass, 13” x 10” x 13”

10

Opaque Rain Overlap, 2011, blown, carved, & polished glass, 14” x 13” x 9”

11

Sun Totem, 2013, blown, carved, & polished glass, 27.5” x 8.5” x 9”

12

Conicle Shell, 2013, blown, carved, & polished glass, 13.5” x 13” x 13.5”

13

Elliptical Halo, 2013, blown, carved, & polished glass, 14” x 5.75” x 14”

Christel Dillbohner

1956 Born in Köln (Cologne), Germany

1978-84 Studied painting in class of Renate Lewandowsky and Karl Marx at

the Cologne Art School, Kölner Werkschule, Germany

1984 Received Masters of Fine Art degree

1987 Moved to Venice, California

1996 Moved to San Francisco

Solo Exhibitions

2012 Whispering Ice, @Buero Leson, Frankfurt, Germany

Nothing is Certain, Don Soker Contmeporary Art, San Francisco

Turbulences, Chris Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA

2011 motionless torrents / silent cataracts, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID

2009 Ice Floe, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

2008 Topographies, The Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA

observations/impressions, Don Soker Contemporary Art, CA

2007 An den Ufern der Zeit, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA

Skimming the Surface, Monterey Art Museum, CA

New Assemblages, AURA, Nagoya, Japan

2006 Nach der Natur, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA

2005 After Nature, Gallery Hirawata, Fujisawa, Japan

Histologies, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID, 2004

2004 Burn Marks and Incisions, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA

2003 Afloat Atelier 31, Seattle, WA

Introduction at SolwayJones, Los Angeles, CA

The Repository at the Bakersfield Art Museum, CA

Fields of Vision University of the South, Sewanee, TN

Off Balance Clemson University, South Carolina

2002 Plumblines Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz, CA

Atmospheric Disturbances Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA

Interiors Gallery Hirawata, Fujisawa/Tokyo, Japan

Components NOB Gallery, Okasaki /Nagoya, Japan

2001 Repository – A Collection of Familiar Curiosities, Fresno Art Museum, CA

From Beyond the Seas Gallery Mssohkan, Kobe, Japan

Alluvium St. Andrews College Gallery, Sewanee, Tennessee

2000 About Sippwells and Other Places - Part III Suyama Space, Seattle, WA

Sedimentation Eyre/Moore Gallery, Seattle, WA

Of Ample Ground Don Soker Contemporary Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA

About Sippwells and Other Places - Part II Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Los Angeles

About Sippwells and Other Places - Part I Gallery Naito, Mizunami/Gifu Pref., Japan

1999 Under the Hill Gallery Hirawata, Tokyo, Japan

AWARDS & HONORS:Francis S. Merrit Scholarship – Haystack Mountain

14

John Kiley Born: 1973, Seattle, WA

7036 E. Main Street | Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 | tel 480.970.3600 www.lewallengalleries.com | info@lewallengalleries.com