Some of Britain’s most talented young glass artists will showcase their work during an exclusive exhibition at Peter Layton’s London Glassblowing next month.

Young Masters, which runs at the Bermondsey Street studio from February 6th to 28th, is a dramatic, thought-provoking display of work which proves that the future of glass is secure in their hands.

Dubbed the Grandmaster of Glass, Peter Layton has been at the forefront of the hot glass movement in Europe, establishing his unrivalled studio in 1976 and passing on his skills to a whole new generation of artists.

He said the exhibition was a clarion call for the art world.

“Studio glass is a medium facing ever increasing challenges – especially in the West – in terms of the huge costs involved and the many years required to gain the knowledge and skill-set required to be the very best,” Peter explained.

“Now is the time, more than ever before, for the next generation of glassmakers to be nurtured and encouraged to meet these challenges head-on in exciting and innovative ways, for soon they themselves will be the grand masters and teachers of future generations.

“Our forthcoming exhibition shows the work of five young artists who, having discovered glass, are all currently dedicating their working lives to exploring the versatility of this extraordinary material – each in his or her own way. They are all immersed in researching and discovering the aesthetic qualities that best express their ideas and each of them is a highly ambitious, driven and dedicated student of the medium.”

Marcel Duchamps led the way by creating his huge installation ‘The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even’ between 1915-23, but it has taken almost a century for artists as diverse as Jaume Plensa, Olaf Elliason, Thomas Schutte, Tony Cragg and several of the YBAs (Hirst, Emin, Parker, Turk) to realise the potential of glass and to use it as an expressive sculptural element in their work.

Peter added: “I am very proud to be hosting this exhibition of these five emerging talents who have so much in common: their enormous dedication and focus, their intensive visual research and their sculptural and expressive intent. Their astounding results are both thoughtful and thought-provoking.”

Established by Peter Layton in 1976, London Glassblowing was among the first hot-glass studios in Europe. The studio has a reputation as one of Europe’s leading glassmaking workshops with a particular flair for the use of colour, form and texture. Peter Layton produces individual pieces of decorative glass in sculptural and functional forms. Each signed piece is free blown, permitting a greater degree of spontaneity and ensuring the individuality of each piece.
Visitors to London Glassblowing Studio will experience the heat and magic of the ancient craft of glassblowing while watching a gather of molten glass evolve into a thing of value and beauty.

Peter Layton’s glass is available through the studio’s own gallery, in vibrant Bermondsey Street, in addition to other galleries and exhibitions in the UK and elsewhere The studio offers introductory classes in glassblowing, covering all the basics from gathering the molten glass, blowing, shaping and forming. Sessions last the whole day and you can keep your own individual creations.

Some exhibitors at Peter Layton’s London Glassblowing ‘Grandmaster of glass’