MARTIN BLANK

Born: August 29, 1962

Resides: Seattle, WA

Martin Blank has admired the grace and flow of the human form since childhood, digging into clay at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston at age 13. After earning a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1984, under the tutelage of Bruce Chow, Blank began his professional career creating with Dale Chihuly. There, he earned a place as an integral part of that team for 11 years before opening his own studio.

Blank's work uncovers his personal evolution from the fundamental study of form and motion to a sensual dance with textures, form and energy that reflect the subtle, yet powerful resonance of human landscapes. His work in hot sculpted glass is about carving space and recreating tension between sculptural forms. His Abstract landscapes reveal the dynamic repetitive structures inherent in nature. Blank states, “it always intrigues me when the forms reveal a negative space that is as vital and potent as the actual objects. Great sculpture is like music, all you have to do is feel it.”

“I would call myself an intuitive artist. I work on the way forms relate to each other to cut a line in space that flows, turns and carries the eye around the piece. Sculpture is as much about the mass as the void.”

-Martin

EDUCATION

  • B.F.A. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI 1984

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITIONS

  • 2009 Museum of Glass, Tacoma WA
  • 2008 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
  • 2008 Bergstrom Mahler Museum, Neenah, WI
  • 2008 New Britain Museum of American Art
  • 2007 Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
  • 2006 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
  • 2006 Block Museum, NW University, Evanston, IL
  • 2005 Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL
  • 2004 Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa FL
  • 2003 Museum of Northwest Art La Conner, WA
  • 2003 Honolulu Academy of Art, HI
  • 2001 Shanghai Museum of Fine Art, China
  • 2001 Millennium Museum, Beijing, China
  • 1996 Museum of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, FL

SELECTED PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

  • 2009 Fluent Steps, permanent exterior installation, Museum of Glass
  • 2004 Repose in Amber, 120 La Salle Chicago, IL
  • 2004 Echo, Orchestral Hall, Detroit, MI
  • 2004 Access to Learning Award, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • 2001 Eternal Light, The Temple, Nashville, TN
  • 1999 Current, Melvin Poll Inc., Seattle, WA
  • 1998 Amber Duet, Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
  • 1995 Drinking from the Cup, Everett Properties, Bellevue, WA
  • 1995 Silver Blue Nikkos, The Benaroya Company, Seattle, WA

HONORS & AWARDS

  • 2005 Repose in Amber tour site for Public Art & Architecture Tour, Chicago, IL
  • 2003 Selected to propse public art commission for & World Trade Center
  • 1996 Art In Embassies, American Embassy to Slovakia
  • 1986 & 1990 Artist's Grant, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA