Marvin Lipofsky

The California artist Marvin Lipofsky has achieved international stature in the studio glass movement as an artist, an educator and a global ambassador. His art has taken him on an odyssey across the world - from the Netherlands to Italy, from the Czech Republic to the People's Republic of China and many points in between. In his travels, he has worked with master glassblowers and factory workers, forming the basis for his sculpture. Back in his studio in Berkeley, California, keeping a steady focus on the sculptural potential of the material, he works with the glass, cutting, etching, polishing until it reaches its final form.Lipofsky began his forty-year career in glass at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in the first group of students taught by Harvey Littleton, the pioneering teacher of studio glass. From there Lipofsky established the second studio glass program in the country at the University of California, Berkeley. Later he founded the glass program at the California College of Arts and Crafts. In addition to college-level teaching, Lipofsky has lectured and led workshops throughout the world. This catalogue provides an opportunity to examine the full range of Lipofsky's work, including his less well known early sculpture, his early series - such as the "California Loop Series" and the "Great American Food Series" - conceptual works and works on paper. Suzanne Baizerman is Imogene Gieling Curator of Crafts and Decorative Arts at the Oakland Museum of California. Other contributors include Tina Oldknow, Davira Taragin, James Yood, and Dan Klein.