David Bennett, American, born 1941. Twisting Aries Dancer, 2004 Blown glass, bronze 86 × 48 × 25 in. Courtesy of the Isabel Foundation. Photo credit: Douglas Schaible Photography. L2017.29

Fragile Bodies: The Figure in Glass and Clay

October 21, 2023 - June 30, 2024

Harris - Burger Gallery

Of the countless subjects rendered throughout the history of art, none have been more popular than the human body. Fragile Bodies: The Figure in Glass and Clay explores artwork from the FIA’s permanent collection by contemporary artists who have taken the human form as their subject. Whether they are accurately replicating the proportions of the skeleton, its musculature, and details, or presenting something more fluid and abstract, each artist captures one of the most enduring themes in art. 

Whether they are modeling faces out of clay or creating arms, legs, and torsos with molten glass, each artist represents the human form in their own unique manner. The artworks in this exhibition—male and female, clothed and nude, young and old—illustrate the human form’s powerful symbolic potential to embody an idea, to express an ideal, or to embrace that which is vulnerable and human.

From the Exhibition

  • Giampaolo Amoruso, Italian, born 1961. Untitled, 2003. Blown glass 17 1/4 × 11 × 7 in. Courtesy of the Isabel Foundation. Photo credit: Douglas Schaible Photography. L2017.7

  • Beverly Mayeri, American, born 1944. Torch Singer, 1994. Painted (acrylics) stoneware 26 × 18 × 14 in. Gift of Mary Mallery Davis, by exchange 2016.11