My Family History: Kent Ipsen
My name is Jordan French and I am currently a senior at New York University. I have been interning at JoAnne Artman Gallery for one year and have had a wonderful experience. I grew up in a family of artists: my mother is a glass sculptor and my grandfather was a well known glass blower and sculptor. My grandfather, Kent Ipsen, made great contributions to the 1960s studio glass movement. He was internationally recognized for his sculptural works in cast glass as well as for his painterly blown-glass vessels, having shown pieces in The Smithsonian, The Brooklyn Museum, and the Vatican Museum. My grandfather used an extensive practice to make his cast glass works, using wax or clay to sculpt the initial form and then using rubber molds to cast the glass. My mother continues to use this extensive process to create her own pieces.
Kent Ipsen, Studio View. Image Courtesy: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Though I have great admiration for the pieces sculpted by hand, the pieces I find most captivating are his glass blown sculptures. We had many of my grandfather’s sculptures around the house growing up. When I was younger, I loved his paperweights. Inside the glass were strings of different colors and shapes. Inside these paperweights were an abstract world that one cant help but inquire about how it was made. I spent a lot of time holding these paperweights up to the light and watching them change as I inspected them at every angle.
Kent Ipsen, Magnum Abstract Paperweight, Blown Glass, 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in.
Matt Devine’s sculptures, though made of steel and aluminum, capture a similar movement to my grandfather’s sculptures. Although glass, aluminum, and steel are industrious materials, the artists are able to create sculptures that feel organic. Despite using very heavy materials, Devine is able to capture a sense of weightlessness in his pieces. The repetition of shapes cast shadows that create depth and make the sculptures seem as if they are floating or defying gravity. The contrast between the materials used and the essence of the sculpture creates a captivating piece.
The artists utilize color in very different ways. Devine chooses one color to paint his sculptures. When using color, Devine gravitates towards bold bright hues, with a preference towards primaries. The colors that Devine chooses to use do not take away from the piece, but instead enhances the repeated forms and the negative space between them. Devine uses color to embolden the existing structure of his sculpture, whereas my grandfather's pieces rely on color to create shape.
I love being surrounded by Matt Devine’s sculptures at the gallery because of how they remind me of my grandfather’s work and how glad I am to have grown up in a family that has a great appreciation for art, specifically sculpture. Living in New York City affords me the opportunity to be surrounded by not only sculpture, but by art of all periods and styles, and to see how evolving techniques still hold onto the basic principles of shape, form, and color.
Kent Ipsen, Untitled, Blown Glass, 12" H (1979)
