Known for his pioneering use of architectural and industrial sheet glass in small-scale sculpture and large-scale public artworks, Tom Patti has received international acclaim as one of the world’s most highly regarded contemporary artists working with glass and is a leader in the field of high-performance glass technology.
— prattfolio
 

DETROIT ART REVIEW

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Glass in Four Dimensions @ Flint Institute of Art in the Harris – Burger Gallery |Detroit Art Review | by Jonathan Rinck | February 2021

When Albert Einstein advanced his general theory of relativity, he argued that there was a fourth dimension: spacetime.  According to theoretical physicists, spacetime has very physical properties: it can literally warp, bend, and even tear.  So can molten glass, of course, and the exhibition Glass in the Fourth Dimension, currently on view at the Flint Institute of Art through March 21, features a selection of glass works from the Studio Glass Movement (the 1960s through the present) which directly or indirectly speak to the concept of the fourth dimension.

……Tom Patti’s Four Ringed Echo, a cuboid sculpture comprising layers of glass which contain a set of vertically stacked rings expanding upward and outward, again implying both time and movement, much like successive frames of stop-motion photography. Both works also directly speak to the ambiguity of the nature of glass, which straddles the boundary between liquid and solid. But at its most literal, the fourth dimension is a reference to the interconnectedness of both space and time…sculpture exists in three-dimensional space, and must be appreciated in 360 degrees; the viewer must move around it, incorporating the element of time. …. Glass in the Fourth Dimension is both welcoming and accessible. And much like the rest of the permanent works on view at the FIA, this exhibit makes abstract art enjoyable to those who might not generally consider themselves fans of abstract art. There’s an undeniable craftsmanship and polish on display, and all these works are undeniably beautiful. Furthermore, the time-based element to this show emphatically makes the case that art is best viewed firsthand (and over time), and not just instantaneously as an image online or in a book– a compelling reason to come see this exhibition in person. ARTICLE PDF


ARTENSION

 
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From an article in the April 2020 issue of ARTENSION …the contemporary art magazine from France features the gallery in Biot that represents Tom’s work internationally..

“For Serge Lechazynski, the passion for glass is literally that of a whole life: He is invested in glass by passion and by reason, he always believed in this art. A leading figure in glass art, he has run the Galerie Internationale du Verre in Biot since 1980. In 1978, during a trip to the United States, Serge met artist Tom Patti, with whom he has developed a long time, warm friendship, esteem and confidence - to the point that Serge began to exhibit Patti’s artwork at the beginning of 1990's. Tom, whose art fascinated Andy Warhol to the point to that Andy created a portrait of him, has works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA in New York, and in Paris at The Musée des Arts Décoratifs”

ARTENSION: LA VIE EN VERRE


AMERICAN CRAFT

Patti is perhaps best known for his merger of flat and blown glass traditions. His signature compositions are created by forcing bubbles of air into stacks of molten plate-glass sheets, forming hollow interior spaces. In his most recent sculptures, single spheres of air are embedded deep within solid cubes of laminated colored glass. As it passes through layers of hot glass, the air forms rings or echoes like those of a stone cast into a body of liquid.

He creates his sculptures from ready-made panes of manufactured glass used in home construction and automobile windows. The forms Patti prefers are mechanically crisp and devoid of expressionistic traces of the hand. His goal is to “take the fingerprints off the work,” to distance himself from romantic studio glass of the 1970s and 80s. This romanticism, in his view, functioned as “a curtain in front of empty space.
— Patricia Failing

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST

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PLAINLY STATED: Allowing Architecture to Speak for Itself in Massachusetts Architecture by Graham Gund | Text by Philip Nobel | Photography by Peter Aaron/Esto


THE ARTFUL MIND

TOM PATTI Interview by Harryet Candee
”I didn’t realize that you could go to art school, that it was a valid profession - that a trained artist could make a living. That was the thinking at the time. [Norman] Rockwell recommended that I go to the best school for studying art, and it was called Pratt institute in Brooklyn, NY. So I applied and received a full scholarship for the six years and went on to receive Bachelors and Masters degree in Industrial Design.”


ART NEW ENGLAND

TOM PATTI: FUSING ART AND SCIENCE by Charles Bonenti
“Tom Patti operates on multiple tracks. He is an artist who thinks like a scientist and engineer. That capability made him a pioneer among sculptors in glass—one whose vision and inventiveness produced objects unlike any other in his field.”


BERKSHIRE EAGLE

SCULPTOR TOM PATTI CREATES MUSEUM EXPERIENCE by Charles Bonenti
“His [Patti’s} early, inventive interest in light, color and glass technology, stirred by the presence here of GE Plastics and GE's high voltage lab, brought him to the attention of GE officials, of Corning Glass and of other glass manufacturers and art institutions far beyond the Berkshires. They were interested in applications beyond those already developed within the industry and supported his experimentation, he said.Patti got interested in the structural potentials of glass and ways to fuse and laminate it during the 1960s. He was part of a project co-founded by artist Robert Rauschenberg called EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology) to promote collaborations between artists and engineers. … He has also taught art and developed models for solving global housing issues Patti was named a Massachusetts Living Treasure by the Foundation on the Arts in 1987.”


CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS

DREAMING OF IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBILITIES Tom Patti is 2015/16 Specialty Glass Resident Artist
In 2015, Patti was selected as the second artist for a new specialty glass residency program offered by The Corning Museum of Glass and Corning Incorporated… Patti did not focus on a specific specialty material for artistic use, but instead explored the way changes in temperature affect different kinds of glass.
TOM PATTI: INVESTIGATIONS INTO A COMPLICATED UNIVERSE
GLASSMAKING BIOGRAPHY: TOM PATTI


MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS

XXe-XXIe SIECLES VERRES: COLLECTION DU MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS
Jean-Luc Olivié publie, avec la contribution de Véronique Ayroles, l’ouvrage Verres XXe-XXIe siècles.
De 1912 à 2012, de Maurice Marinot à Yoichi Ohira, un siècle de créations verrières est révélé dans cet ouvrage à travers une centaine d’œuvres du musée des Arts décoratifs à Paris. 


 
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Tom Patti creates compact and meticulously considered objects that are quietly innovative.
— American Glass: The Collections at Yale

CLEAR AIR-FRAME WITH PINSTRIPES Drawing on an insightful selection from the Yale University Art Gallery and other collections at Yale, American Glass illuminates the vital and often intimate roles that glass has played in the nation’s art and culture. 


NEW ENGLAND HOME

THE ACCIDENTAL ARTIST by Nathaniel Read
You can see Tom Patti’s work—everything from crisp-edged, multi-hued cubes of glass to entire walls of iridescence that change as you walk by them—in major cities and museums around the world. His career as a glass artist, however, came about rather like the discovery of penicillin: the result of a combination of experiment and accident. 


GLASS


NSG GROUP

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MOVING PICTURES - A MIX OF GOLD AND MIRROR GLASSES CREATES A MAGICAL SHOW
”The classic art lover’s stance - motionless in front of a painting or sculpture as they study its final detail - really won’t do for artist Tom Patti’s latest installation. You need to back away from it, take a sidestep, come back when he sun has gone in and, when you finally walk away - glance back quickly over your shoulder to take it by surprise.”


THE NEW YORK TIMES

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IN NEW BUILDINGS, BUYING INTO COOL by Josh Barbanel
Art is being placed in new buildings, and it is also being used in marketing programs to sell them. In some cases, developers with their own collections, or a passion for art, are recruiting the artists who create custom works for their lobbies.”
LIVELY SELECTIONS AT THE MODERN by Suzanne Slesin


PRATTFOLIO

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INSPIRED
”Patti’s work is included in numerous prominent permanent collections, such as those of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Louvre.”


SMITHSONIAN: ARCHIVES OF AMERICAN ART

ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH TOM PATTI FOR CRAFT AND DECORATIVE ARTS IN AMERICA DOCUMENTATION PROJECT
An interview of Tom Patti conducted by William Warmus for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at Patti's residence, in Miami Beach, Florida.


URBAN GLASS

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VERRE & CREATION

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The artist, known for his optical sculptures, returns to its first passion, glass in architecture.
VERRE&CREATION [Cover]
VERRE CONTEMPORAIN > PORTRAIT
VERRE CONTEMPORAIN > PORTRAIT (con’t)
VERRE&CREATION Rendezvous

PUBLICATIONS

2022 - 2011

  • AMERICAN GLASS, THE COLLECTION AT YALE, John Stuart Gordon, Yale University Art Gallery, 2018 p. 276

  • BERKSHIRE EAGLE, Larry Parnass, 10.31.2017

  • XXe-XXIe SIÈCLES VERRES: COLLECTION DU MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS, JeanLuc Olivie, Musee Des Arts Decoratifs, France, 2013 pp 142-145

  • COLOR IGNITED: GLASS 1962-2012, Jutta-Annette Page, Peter Morrin, Robert Bell, foreword by Brian P. Kennedy, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo OH, 2012, pp 118, 120 -123

  • DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN: The Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts’ Collection Volume II, Rosalind Pepall and Diane Charbonneau, Montreal Canada, p 66-67

  • NEW GLASS REVIEW 33, Corning Museum of Glass, NY, p. 115

  • INNOVATION AND ILLUMINATION, Archer, S. Feb. 2012

  • NEW ENGLAND HOME, “The Accidental Artist”, Nathaniel Reade, September/October 2012, Volume 8, Number 1, p. 34-37

  • ART NEW ENGLAND, “Choosing the Berkshires”, Charles Bonenti, September/October 2012, Vol 33, Issue 5,p 18-19

  • BERKSHIRE EAGLE, “Art in Glass”, Charles Bonenti, June 29, 2012, Pittsfield MA, p. D1-D2

  • AMERICAN STYLE, “Pittsfield Rising”, Jane Friedman, Summer 2012, #80, Baltimore MD, p57-58

  • AMERICAN CRAFT, “Zoom—Voices: How important is history to your work?”, Aug/Sept 2012, Vol 72 #04, Minneapolis MN, p 24

  • URBANGLASS ART QUARTERLY, “Fifty at Fifty”, Annie Buckley, William Ganis, Victoria Josslin, Tina Oldknow, Andrew Page, Jutta-Annette Page, William Warmus, Lilly Wei, James Wood, Summer 2012, #127, p 36, 44

  • MIAMI: GREATER MIAMI AND THE BEACHES: VISUALLY SPEAKING, Kiko Ricote, Kikor, Inc., Miami FL, 2011, p 53-54
    “Design as an Extension of Art Practice Part I”, Peter Zellner, Klat Magazine blog, March 6, 2011

  • PRATTFOLIO, Brooklyn, NY, p. 18-19

  • NEW GLASS REVIEW 32, Corning Museum of Glass, NY, p 118 “Marquis Residencies in Miami”, Flora Guillemin, Whitewall Daily, February 3, 2011

  • ECLATS!, Le Musee Se Met Au Verre…Contemporain, exhibition catalog, Musee Wurth France Erstein, France, October 2011

2010 - 2006

  • NEW GLASS REVIEW 31, Corning Museum of Glass, NY, p. 115

  • THE CENTURY OF MODERN DESIGN, David Hanks, Flammarion SA, Paris, p268

  • MAKERS: A History of American Studio Craft, Koplos, J. and Metcalf, B., University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, p. 413-414

  • THE URBAN GLASS ART QUARTERLY, “The Glass Eye: The Float”, Geoff Isles, Summer 2010, Number 119, Brooklyn NY, p 19

  • STUDIO GLASS: Anna and Joe Mendel Collection, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, ed. Diane Charbonneau, Montreal Canada, April 2010, p 137, 140

  • CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART ANNUAL REPORT 2009-2010,

  • ACQUISITIONS, June 30, 2010, Norfolk Virginia, p 16

  • GLASS: THE URBANGLASS ART QUARTERLY, “Sea Glass: Aesthetic Lessons from Below the Surface”, William Warmus, Brooklyn, NY, p 32

  • PIONEERS OF CONTEMPORARY GLASS: Highlights from the Barbara and Dennis DuBois Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Cindi Strauss; with Rebecca Elliot and Susie J. Silbert, Yale University Press, April 7, 2009, pg. 54, 55

  • YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY BULLETIN 2009, CT, p. 128

  • HAUTE LIVING, Oct/Nov 2009, Kamal Hotchandani & Seth Semilof, Publisher

  • CREATING A NEW CRAFT CULTURE, American Craft Council, NY, p48-49

  • VOICES OF CONTEMPORARY GLASS: Heineman Collection, Corning Museum, NY, P. 240-245

  • THE REPUBLICAN, “Weekend”, Nov. 11, 2009, Springfield, MA, p F13

  • “3 Questions for… Tom Patti”, The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet blog, September 1, 2009

  • “Cologne bottle gives artist sense of déjà vu: Lawsuit alleges Sean Combs stole container design”, Jonathan Saltzman, The Boston Globe, January 30, 2009

  • “First Exhibition Devoted to Contemporary Studio Glass at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston”, Artdaily.org, November 5, 2009

  • “Lowe Art Museum celebrates the art of glass”, Darlene Pistocchi, Miami Performing Arts Examiner.com, October 20, 2009

  • “Internationally known glass sculptor Tom Patti to reopen Westfield State College’s Arno Maris Gallery with a retrospective of his work”, Anne-Gerard Flynn, MassLive.com, November 19, 2009

  • “Famed sculptor slated to talk”, Anne-Gerard Flynn, The Republican, November 19, 2009, F13, F18

  • “Art en Route: A Guide to Art in the MTA Network”, 2009, pg. 8

  • “Glass Plus: The Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion Shimmers at the Lowe”, Leslie Sternlieb, Gables Home Page.com, December 16, 2009

  • “First Exhibition Devoted to Contemporary Studio Glass at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston”, featuring photo of Expanded Echo with Line, artdaily.org

  • “Encasement”, Robin Rice, UrbanGlass GLASS Quarterly, Fall 2009, Issue 116

  • “Tracing a Movement”, Beverly Sanders, review of Voices of Contemporary Glass: The Heineman Collection, American Craft Magazine blog, July 7, 2009

  • PRATTFOLIO, Fall/Winter 2009

  • NEWGLASS REVIEW 29, Corning Museum of Glass, NY, p104

  • CONTEMPORARY GLASS SCULPTURES AND PANELS: Selections from The Corning Museum of Glass, Hudson Hills Press, LLC, VT, p132-133

  • Miami Herald: “Glass Act: UM’s Lowe Art Museum Enriched by a Couple’s Collecting Passion”, June 15, 2009

  • “Berkshire Museum to Unveil Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation in March 2008”, Berkshire Museum press release, Berkshire Museum web site, January 18, 2008

  • “Renowned glass artist Tom Patti is one of the Berkshire innovators featured…”, Daily Gazette.com, Schenectady NY, April 13, 2008

  • “Glass is the new collectible”, ArtPark.com blog, April 16, 2008

  • “Glass art is attracting more collectors”, Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, SF Gate online, June 27, 2008

  • AMERICAN CRAFT, “Western Massachusetts: Craft in the Mountains”, Shannon Sharpe, June/July 2008, New York NY

  • Prattfolio, Office of Public Relations & Communications - Division of Development, Brooklyn, NY p. 50

  • THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS ANNUAL REPORT, Corning, NY, p 12

  • CONTRASTS: A Glass Primer, Halper, V., U. of Washington Press, WA, p 14

  • The Record: “Glass In All Its Glory” Newark, NJ, May 11, 2007

  • GLASS FOCUS, Vol. 21, Jun/Jul 2007, IL, p. 2 & 3

  • MIAMI TODAY, “Marquis project to feature huge art installation”, Marilyn Bowden, Sept. 20, 2007, Miami FL

  • “The Newark Museum’s first major exhibition of contemporary studio glass ‘dazzles’”, Newark Museum press release, May 2007, Newark NJ

  • GLASS QUARTERLY, “Bubble Proof”, William Warmus, March 2007, #106, p 80

  • COLOURS OF ARCHITECTURE: Coloured Glass in Contemporary Buildings, Moor, Andrew, Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, p.144-147

  • BERKSHIRE LIVING, Vol. 2, Issue 4, June 2006, Berkshire Living LLC, Great Barrington, p. 3, 70-75

  • GLASS: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly, UrbanGlass, NY, p. 67 & 76

  • CONTEMPORARY GLASS ART, Lausanne et La Bibliotheque des Arts, p. 159

  • GLASS: MATERIAL MATTERS, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, P 22-25

  • GLASS QUARTERLY, No. 106, “Reflection”, p. 80

  • The Seattle Times: An overview of glass art from near and far, The Seattle Times Co., WA

  • ART EN ROUTE: A Guide to Art in the MTA Network, MTA, NY, p 20

  • VERRE & CREATION, Paris, p.4, back cover

  • VERRE, Vol.12, No.4, August 2006, Paris, p 50, 51

ALL PUBLICATIONS [PDF FILE]