LOIS LAMBERT GALLERY
JOHN LUEBTOW: Retrospective - From 1972 to 2023
May 11 - July 6, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 11, 6-9PM
JOHN LUEBTOW, Ode to 9-11 (2003), kiln formed glass, fused Bullseye colors, glass enamel stars, 20” x 8” x 8”
Lois Lambert Gallery presents Retrospective - From 1972 to 2023, the most recent exhibition of work by artist John Luebtow.
Luebtow has been creating art for over 55 years, specializing in kiln-formed glass, and has become one of the most important names in contemporary glass sculpture. He is most known for his innovation in the technical processes of working with glass, developing his own methods and even building his own tools for creating large-scale glass sculptures and installations up to 25 feet tall.
At the heart of Luebtow’s artistic philosophy is a curiosity about the processes of creation and a commitment to forging something entirely new. Luebtow’s work integrates glass with architecture, becoming equal parts artistic expression and engineering endeavors. Despite his skilled background in drawing, painting, and ceramics, Luebtow ultimately has chosen glass as his primary medium, as “no other material deals with light, line, movement, change, intensity...all things visual...as glass does, while also paralleling life, having an inner and outer self, and an internal and external presence or being.”
Inspiration for Luebtow’s work can be found in everthing that is experienced in life, pairing beauty along with the reality of life’s struggles. “The events of our times, then and now, affect everything we do and are allowed to do. We are what we have experienced and what we remember.” Luebtow’s sculptures, though not limited to, can be categorized by two different themes: political/social commentary and the abstraction of beauty. Many of Luebtow’s sculptures use images of the American flag to reflect on and process political and social happenings. Other works utilize linear and geometric forms with added surface embellishment, to create technically perfect investigations of beauty and abstraction.
John Luebtow holds a BA from California Lutheran College, and two distinct MFAs from UCLA (one in ceramics and one in glass). Since 1966, Luebtow has exhibited in over 175 exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, including exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Tacoma Art Museum, WA; Zimmer Museum, CA; Corning Museum, NY; Carnegie Museum, PA; Oakland Museum of Art, CA; Santa Monica Museum of Art, CA; Louisville Art Museum, KY; Manhattan Beach Art Museum, CA; and Orange County Museum of Art, CA. His work has been commissioned by major public and private corporations including Hewlett-Packard (HP), ARCO (Atlantic Richfield), American Airlines, NESTLÉ (Carnation), and the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla. Over 160 articles have been published about Luebtow’s work.
Lois Lambert Gallery, Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave., #E3, Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 829-6990 | info@loislambertgallery.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00am - 6:00pm