Piccadilly 2008

Lino Tagliapietra created this glass artwork called 'Piccadilly' and what I like about it is how it brings energy and movement to a solid form. I can imagine Lino, the artist, blowing and shaping the molten glass, coaxing it into this curvaceous, almost pear-like form. The stripes of black and white give it a sense of rhythm, like a visual beat that draws your eye around the whole piece. That single band of blue feels like a cool pause in the pattern. It's as though the whole thing is breathing. Making something this smooth and symmetrical out of something so unpredictable as hot glass... That takes serious skill, you know? You can see it in the flow of the lines, how they curve just so, suggesting both control and also surrender to the material. It reminds me of Agnes Martin's stripes but in 3D. I wonder if Lino knew her work? Artists are in a continuous dialogue with each other, borrowing and adding to each other's ideas.