Artists and designers love the possibilities of using and working with glass.

We have had a long love affair with glass. It inspires us with its beauty, surprises us with its versatility, challenges us with its complex physical properties.

Glass is performance art…from its fluidity to the way it scatters light in space.

But it is rare to find galleries hosting exhibitions devoted to these new trends. In 2024 2 Temple Place on London’s Embankment bucked the trend with a ground-breaking exhibition, The Glass Heart, showcasing works by leading glass artists, and receiving rave reviews. 

This lecture offers an in-depth introduction to the work of three very different artists, American Dale Chihuly, English James Maskrey and Ghanian Anthony Amoako Attah, all of whom have work in London’s V &A. Chihuly made the headlines in London with the V &A  chandelier (2001) and his enormous boundary-pushing outdoor glass sculpture installation in Kew Gardens (2019).  Maskrey not only works with artists in other disciplines, such as the Kenyan-born, Surrey-based Magdalene Odundo, to create stunning glass, but also  produces outstanding work in his own right, including sensitive and quirky representations of historical events. Ghanian-born Amoako-Attah’s is inspired by Ghanian Kente textiles which he recreates using the medium of screen-printed glass. In 2022 he was Artist of the Fair at Collect, London, the leading international showcase for contemporary art and design. The lecture offers the opportunity to admire incredible skill, innovative applications of traditional and contemporary techniques, and outstanding artistic vision. It includes explanations of the techniques used and the rationale behind the works.

Dr Susan Wood is a cultural historian and practising artist. Her PhD in German (Sheffield) and career as University Lecturer involved researching and publishing widely. She gave over 60 international conference papers on German and European culture. Her MA in German Art (Courtauld Institute) and MA in Glass (Sunderland) give her both an academic and a practical background for her talks.  

Guests are warmly welcomed at lectures, in person or online. Guest tickets are £10 and are available on the door, on the TASDAG website or at Midsteeple Box Office.