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There's great depth in a show of glass by Duncan McClellan and mixed media by John and Lynn Whipple.
By BRANDY STARK
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 1, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Arts Center is hosting two innovative shows, "A Clear Risk," the first solo exhibition of glass artist Duncan McClellan, and "Filling the Cup," a mixed media show by husband and wife artists John and Lynn Whipple.
McClellan's interest in glass art began at the age of 5 when he visited a glass factory in West Virginia. Today, his works are in museums and private collections across the United States. Recently, McClellan was honored as the second American invited to study and work at the ARS Studio in Murano, Italy.
Many of the works in the Arts Center show were blown in Italy, then brought to Florida to be finished.
Coal Miner's Canary contains an angelic figure carved in Italy sitting inside a wood and glass cage created in St. Petersburg. You Are Here, a Pyrex and steel hand-carved work, combines techniques with two kinds of pigments. The cones are made of an American red, which has a red-orange hue, and the target is made of cherry red glass pigment from Italy.
Running the Gauntlet is a large blown and sculpted glasswork showing three birds and a butterfly cocoon attached to a glass rod. Typically, works of this size are done by a group of artists. McClellan works alone.
Glass has a dual nature: as a solid form, it seems strong, stable and smooth. But if broken, it becomes sharp and dangerous. McClellan uses this duality to create an artistic vision of the risks inherent in life. Issues of personal safety, responsibility and fear of change are represented in many pieces.
Calculated Risk, blown glass and sand, contains historically important mathematical formulas etched into a red cone. On top of the cone is a bomb, waiting to explode. Feet to the Fire holds an androgynous human form suspended over a flame-engraved bowl. The pendulum-shaped body ends without feet. Yet, McClellan explains, "How can you take a leap of faith without any feet?"
"What was interesting for me was to watch the show evolve and see how the works affected viewers. One point I am trying to make is that there are some risks we're completely oblivious to, but not seeing risks doesn't make them any less real. Yet, if we go too far in trying to protect ourselves from risk, we create false illusions. Without risk there is no growth," McClellan said.
"Filling the Cup" is a mixed media show inspired by Lynn and John Whipple's home in Winter Park. Both enjoy found object art, though for this show that is where much of the similarity ends. The show is divided into his and hers.
Lynn Whipple's Puppets consists of strange humanoid creatures made from clay, string, collages and old photographs linked to form exaggerated bodies. Bottle People is a series of bottles containing people cut from old black-and-white photographs. Each fairylike image has been augmented with found objects or painted.
"Bottle People depicts the idea that everyone is different, but they don't know it. My figures all have wings and are able to fly out of the bottles that hold them, but they don't understand that," she said.
John Whipple's ink and oil works are based on the freedom of flight and what it represents to him. Many of his pieces show human and bird figures merged together.
Siren is a human head with wings stretching from the ears, a tail sprouting from the neck, and a bird's head overlooking the eyes of its human counterpart. This theme carries through Wing and a Prayer and Evolution. The central work, however, is the Codex of the Flight of Humans.
"It is a parody of da Vinci, who did his codex of the flight of birds in 18 pages. I made an allusion to those ideas and those sketches, but also made them into my own series of thoughts," he explained.
"The top row signifies my awareness to the ideas of flight, the middle depicts a metamorphosis of ideas, while the bottom row shows the manifestations of flight."
REVIEW: "A Clear Risk: New Works by Duncan McClellan" and "Filling the Cup: Mixed Media by Lynn and John Whipple" at the Arts Center, 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Both shows run through Feb. 23. Free admission. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri., Sat.; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thurs.; noon-4 p.m. Sun. Call (727) 822-7872.