ANNE PEABODY
United States
2018
Glass, sterling silver leaf, paint
24″ x 18″

“I grew up in rural Kentucky and have been drawn to nature as a source of inspiration for as long as I can remember. My recent drawings on silvered glass recall stories from my youth and recapture feelings and experiences I’ve had while wandering through the woods.” In 2012, Anne Peabody was selected by a group of international curators for Glass Quarterly as one of the 50 Best Artists working in Glass, alongside glass greatsDale Chihuly and Stephen Rolphe Powell as well as internationally known multimedia artists Kiki Smith, Dan Flavin and Fred Wilson. Anne was born in Louisville, Kentucky; she lives and works in Brooklyn. “Given the nature of her chosen medium, light is a vital participant in the elusive compositions. Her works on silvered glass are created using a technique streaming from églomisé, a French glass-gilding technique popularized in the eighteenth century, whose ephemeral results emphasize the delicacy of the subject-matter.” (From the Glasstress website.)

Peabody’s works have been included in group and solo shows including the Venice Biennale, “Art Walks the Runway,” Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, “Glasstress,” Millesgarden Museum, Stockholm Sweden, “Site 92: Phase 2,” Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, and “New York City’s 40 Years: 40 Artists.” She has been commissioned to make permanent installations for 21c Museums in Louisville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Ohio and Bentonville, Arkansas and has done multiple permanent architectural installations for architect Peter Marino, Deborah Berke and Associates, and others. Her work has been critically reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, Artnews, The New York Times, Glass Quarterly, Curatedmag, the Art Newspaper, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Artdaily.

To us, Anne Peabody’s drawings on glass are dreamscapes–they are altered by what they reflect: the light, surrounding colors, the other objects in the room including the viewer, who is always inside the work, subtly in its reflection. We are thrilled to include three of her recent works in our current showroom installation.

The artist writes: “I drew Tree Top when I noticed that the view from my bedroom window resembled the foxing that often occurs near the edges of old mirror frames. I made it as a reminder to take note of small details and to find beauty in perceived imperfections.” This touches on an aspect of Peabody’s work that we love. Her glass landscapes are a very contemporary iteration of landscape painting, but they also seem to emerge from early photography and the evolution of mirror design. Between the oxidation which she employs, and the masterful technique of her drawing, the effect is simultaneously modern and antique, and dissolves the line between fine and decorative art.