Exhibition Insight... Drew Spangenberg: Departure To Graceland
Drew Spangenberg, Brazil Bottle II; Graceland Goblet; Graceland Teapot II; Tennessee Canister IV; Brazil Bottle III, 2022. Photo: Pippy Mount.
Adelaide-based glass artist Drew Spangenberg creates stand-alone pieces with practical possibilities. In Departure to Graceland he is inspired by the binary colours and geometric forms of the Milan-born Memphis Design Group, an all-star band founded by Ettore Sottsass in 1981.
Drew Spangenberg: Departure to Graceland is showing at JamFactory Adelaide from 15 July – 18 September 2022.
Words by Rebecca Freezer.
“I’ve a reason to believe
We all will be received. . .
In Graceland, Graceland,
Memphis Tennessee”
Paul Simon’s masterwork “Graceland” is a song that captures the exuberant spirit of the 1980s. Simultaneously, The Memphis Design Group (from Milan, not Tennessee) was the great cultural phenomenon of the 1980s. Also known as Memphis Milano, the collective was founded while Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album played on repeat. They named themselves after the song “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.”
Memphis Milano revolutionised the design world and came to define the decade of excess – in its binary colours, blown up proportions, dizzying patterns and playful nods to Art Deco and Pop Art. Its enduring influence and musical correlations are strongly felt in Departure to Graceland, the second solo exhibition by accomplished glass artist and JamFactory alumnus Drew Spangenberg.
Spangenberg channels the aesthetics of the era, while challenging both the function and consumption of everyday objects. “My work sits on the border between functional and ornamental, similar to the idea Memphis inflicts on its products as an object being more aesthetic than useful,” describes Spangenberg.
For Departure to Graceland he has created over 40 new, bold, multi-functional objects that can be used as intended – as a teapot, canister, bottle or goblet - or simply as a covetable decorative item. The line drawn between artist, craftsperson and designer can often be blurred and Spangenberg creates objects that defy categorisation. Similarly, these pieces demonstrate Memphis’s characteristically humorous anti-functionalism as in World’s Most Useless Canister, 2022. What this puddled container lacks in function it offers in optical intrigue.
Spangenberg radically tests the boundaries of the medium. With a meticulous level of care and craftsmanship, he remains geometrically coherent while considering the harmony of colours and shapes. He articulates how in this exhibition:
I have pushed my skills as a glassblower in creating these deceptively intricate forms. Glass as a medium naturally curves and softens in sharp areas when heated, making clean lines a challenge to achieve.
Spangenberg employs centuries-old Murano glass-blowing traditions. He also looks to the Murano manufacturer Venini & Co. who made the glass objects for Memphis designers Ettore Sottsass and Marco Zanini.
The exhibition design is loosely inspired by Ettore Sottsass’ Carlton Room Divider, 1981 – a mesmerising laminated-MDF deity. Its bold colours and frenetic patterns and shapes seem to fight each other for attention. This piece had a place in David Bowie’s extensive Memphis Design collection which was auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2016. Spangenberg’s ode to Memphis, like Bowie’s music, stands somewhere between punk pop aesthetics and high art, acknowledging a classic vernacular while at the same time disrupting it.
Bowie, who was known for his alter egos –Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and the Thin White Duke – also played Jareth the Goblin King in the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. If Bowie is the Goblin King then Spangenberg is the Goblet King. A series of 18 Pineapple Goblets are the centrepiece of this exhibition. Their complexity, colour variety, lightness and delicacy highlight the versatility and deftness of Spangenberg
My background as a musician influences the way I approach my artistic practice. In creating a musical composition, I think of how the many parts work together to create a complete piece. These objects are made as an ensemble rather than individuals, with the colours and shapes thoughtfully chosen to play together in harmony.
Departure to Graceland is a cross-contamination between artisan and musicianship, Murano’s glassmaking heritage and avant-garde design. Spangenberg challenges both the function and consumption of everyday objects which exemplify his endless pursuit for the perfect composition.
Drew Spangenberg, Pineapple Stem Goblets, 2022. Photo: Pippy Mount.
Drew Spangenberg is an Adelaide-based glass artist who was born and raised in Whyalla, SA. He completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Glass) at the University of South Australia (2012). During this time Drew took part in workshops by internationally acclaimed artists Brian Corr and Lino Tagliapietra, held at JamFactory and the Canberra Glassworks. Spangenberg was a teaching assistant for renowned glass artist and UniSA educator Gabriella Bisetto before undertaking the Associate Training Program at JamFactory's Glass Studio (2014–2015). Here he continues his glass blowing practice and is currently its Associate Development Manager. Spangenberg was the recipient of the Australian Design Institute Glass Award (2014). He was a finalist for the FUSE Glass Prize (2022) and the Klaus Moje Glass Award (2019).