Martin Hlubuček, ‘Arsenal,’ 2015. All images courtesy of the artist and Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris.

October 21, 2015
Art

By: Jonathan Shia

MARTIN HLUBUČEK

Tucked on a side street behind the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Clara Scremini Gallery offers an eclectic roster of artists working in glass and ceramic, including Martin Hlubuček, who this month presents his pure, glowing forms in dark-hued glass in a new exhibition of his Arsenal collection. Like his gallery mate Simon Klenell—whose first show at the gallery proceeded this current one—the Czech Hlubuček grew up around glass. “I come from Northeast Bohemia, from an area that is inseparably linked with glassmaking,” he says. “Glass has been a constant feature of my life so far—both my parents worked in the glass industry, a number of relatives, and most of my friends. Glass has therefore been a natural and everyday part of my life since I was a boy.”

But unlike those members of the “glass industry,” Hlubuček is more interested in the one-off than in creating objects for daily use. He works from moulds, casting his creations from molten glass, but his designs are not meant to be reproduced for sale as objects for use. While similar in form to bottles and vases, they are detailed and, ultimately, surprising in their shapes and proportions. They hint at the everyday without becoming a part of it.

Martin Hlubuček, ‘Manacle,’ 2009.

Glass may seem to the uninitiated like a simple material—clear, smooth, meant to be looked through rather than at–but in Hlubuček’s hands, it becomes both powerful and versatile. He hints at adding glassblowing into moulds to his arsenal two years ago, and describes another project that he promises will “be universal” and “fascinate people,” even as the time-consuming practice only allows him to complete two to three pieces a year. “Mould-melting glass is a unique, sculpture-like method of working with glass, evidently the most arduous glassmaking discipline of all. It requires focus, humility, and knowledge of the specific work procedures involved in processing glass,” he explains. “The creation of each piece is an incredibly slow and demanding process, but I know that this is simply the way it has to be.”

Martin Hlubuček’s exhibition runs through November 14 at the Clara Scremini Gallery, 99, rue Quincampoix, Paris.

Martin Hlubuček, ‘Gabro,’ 2011.

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