Raise the GLASS!

When people think of glass art, they often think of grandma’s
vase collection or Murano trinkets from vacations. Yet, glass as
an artistic medium has been experiencing a spectacular comeback, far removed from kitsch. For example, Ai Weiwei had a
glass middle finger (in a bold pose) crafted, Tracey Emin’s neon
hearts pulse in glass tubes, and in 2017 at the Venice Biennale, German sculptor Thomas Schütte achieved success with his
conical “glass garden gnomes.”
In Austria, Peter Kuchler III is regarded as the country’s leading contemporary glass artist. Born in 1991 into a dynasty
of renowned glass artists, he started shaping molten glass early
on and graduated as a master from the glassblowing school in
Kramsach at the age of 18. His “classic journeyman years”
followed, taking him to significant glass studios and artists at
home and abroad, including Kosta Boda designer Jan Erik
Ritzman. In 2014, his first solo exhibition took place at
Vienna’s Hofburg, followed by many others – from the United
Arab Emirates to the United States. Galleries, private collectors, and public institutions around the world began to take
interest in pieces from Peter Kuchler III’s studio, which can weigh up to 25 kg. He also collaborates with other influential
artists. For instance, he has created works with Peter Layton
in Sweden’s Boda or with Italian Davide Salvadore at the
world’s most important glass museum, the *Corning Museum of Glass* in New York State, which houses about 45,000
exhibits.
Interest in his work is strong at home too: in 2021, a glass piece
by Peter Kuchler graced the cover of the Dorotheum catalog.
Larimeer, a glass “lotus flower” weighing about 200 kg and
measuring 200 cm in diameter, was later auctioned in the renowned halls of Vienna’s famous auction house for 56,500 euros. That same year, Peter Kuchler III was named in Forbes’
“30 Under 30” list for the most exciting young talents in the
German-speaking world.
But what exactly makes Kuchler’s art unique and recognized
worldwide? Of course, there’s a high degree of craftsmanship –
working with molten glass is considered “the most intense way”
to transform the material into a work of value and relevance.
Above all, though, it’s his eclectic approach: “I’ve developed
a mix of glassblowing, sculpture, and painting to touch people
with what I create. I want time to stand still briefly and for
people to lose themselves in the details. The spiral in my works
is my signature, my trademark. It represents my motto: Forever. Unique,” says the artist, who draws inspiration from
Klimt’s elegance, Kandinsky’s abstraction, and Warhol’s
vibrant colors.
What sounds poetic – and looks that way in the final result –
actually requires intense physical labor in the creation process,
as the artist explains: “I shape the 1,200-degree hot glass
with my hands. I use a wet Kronen Zeitung as a protective
layer. The many layers of paper insulate well enough that I
can feel the glass without burning myself badly.”