The Process
4/4/2015-13/9/2015
 
On monday 19 january 2015, the jury of the international glass prize – consisting of Hans op de Beeck, Lut Maris, An Moons, Philip Wiesman, Ilse van Roy and Jeroen Maes – selected 61 works from 756 submissions. The following artists will be invited to present their work at the international glass prize exhibition in the glass museum glazenhuis in Lommel, Belgium.
 
Participating artists:
BARREDA Marc (US/NL), BERDYCH Jakub (CZ), BIDSTRUP Stine (DK), BIELAWSKA Olga (DE), BOOGAERTS Line (BE), BOWRAN Dan (AU/UK), BÖHM Isabelle (DE), CHO Simsa (JP/NL), CHOI Keeryong (KR/UK), DE BOISERIE Eline (BE), ESPERSEN Maria Bang (DK), FUSKOVÁ Zdenka (CZ), GARNER Doreen (US), GUSSEK Jens (DE), HIROHATA Masami (JP/DE), HORACKOVA Klara (CZ), JANSSENS Philip (BE), JOSZCZUK-BRZOZOWSKA Antonina (PL), JÄGER Mikk (EE), KNÖDLER Anne (DE), KUHN Thomas (DE), LARSEN Per-René (DK), LECOUTURIER Armand (FR/DE), LYON Lucy (US), MAGEE Jesse (US/DE), MATTHIAS Gayle (UK), MATTHYNSSENS Nadia (BE), MLASOWSKY Anna (DE/US), MOTYCKA Michal (CZ), NOVAKOVA Eva (CZ), PETERSEN Michael (DK/NL), PFEIFER Jens (DE/NL), QUADE Leana (US), RAWLINSON Tim (UK), RITZENHOFF Jenny (DE/NL), ROMANELLI Bruno (UK), ROSENBERG Alexander (US), RÖTZSCH Torsten (DE), RÖDER Judith (DE), SASAKI Rui (JP), SCHOLES Victoria (UK), SILVER BROWN Susan (US), SKROTT Pavel (CZ), SODERBERG Nanda (US), STANICKY Petr (CZ), SZÖSZ C. Matthew (US), TAPAJNOVA Helena (SK), VAN DER PUTTEN Nico (NL), VERMEREN Karen (BE), VLADYCHKO Nataliya (NL) and WIGHTMAN Kathryn (UK/NZ).
 
THE PROCESS
The universality of the process (by Dan Holsbeek)
Time is irrefutably linked to man's existential quest. Indeed, it is generally believed that there is a cohesion between time and change in the form of events, processes, etc. Most of the changes caused by humans are aimed at cultivating his environment.
Creative man plays a decisive role here. The creation process and the creative process... appear to be different ways of saying the same thing, and yet they are distinct. We reflect on the level of the artist, the work of art and the viewer. The creation process places a greater emphasis on the process of making, while the creative process tends to allude more to the artistic spark that occurs and is depicted, the so-called 'aha moment' that is so hard to comprehend. By contrast, the creation process is experienced as a more concrete event.
 
For many people the fact that the artist is the motor and vehicle of the creation process is obvious, but ultimately, all things considered, this is really so self-evident. What a process can set in motion is sometimes very diverse and cannot always be perfectly controlled, and the process itself can become the subject of the work. Finally, with regard to the viewer, there is not only his possible involvement, but also the readability of the creation process, which can vary widely and contribute to a different appreciation of the work. The juxtaposition of the creative process and the creation process evokes reminiscences of dual universal concepts such as mind and body, transcendental and earthly, etc..
Read more on PDF Concept  Der Lauf der Dinge, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, 1987>
 
The cash prize money to be awarded amounts to 12,000 euros. The jury will award this to one prizewinner, or may divide the amount in accordance with their findings between two or (at the most) three prizewinners. In addition to the cash prizes, two 6-day residencies in the GlazenHuis glass studio will be awarded at a value of 3,900 euros including hot and cold glass studio time with a resident glass blower assistant, travel and accommodation expenses.
 
MISION IGP
In response to the request of the Ch. van der Seijs Foundation to develop a promotional activity with an international character for the glass museum GlazenHuis and the city of Lommel, the International Glass Prize (IGP) was founded. In 2012 the first edition of the triennial international glass competition was initialized; 3 years later the second edition is launched. Important in the development of the competition is the cross-over from fine art to design and craft. All this in relation to the material glass, its physical image or the conceptual reference. More important than the prize money, is the financial support to cover the transport costs of the selected works, so that all artists have the opportunity to participate in this competition.

The late Charlotte J. van der Seijs (1937-2007) was a proud resident of Lommel. When she died she left a fortune to a private foundation for the benefit of the Lommel GlazenHuis. The Dutch Charlotte J. van der Seijs was born in Utrecht on 27 December 1937 and after living in Amsterdam (NL), Barcelona (SP) and Brasschaat (BE) she came to live in Lommel in 1999. She was an active member of many cultural organizations and ‘Friend for life’ of several museums. She showed a great interest in the erection of the glass centre GlazenHuis and decided to set up a private foundation intended to promote the activities of the Flemish Centre for Contemporary Glass Art and to enhance the cultural climate in the city of Lommel. On 19 November 2007, the day after her death, the private foundation Charlotte J. van der Seijs acquired the authorization of the Minister of Justice to accept this bequest definitively. “The creation process lays more emphasis on the process (of making), while the creative process alludes to the artistic spark that occurs and is depicted.”

INTERNATIONAL GLASS PRIZE 2015
Saturday evening 25 April the Flemish Minister of Culture Sven Gatz announced the prize winners of the second edition of the International Glass Prize at the glass museum GlazenHuis.
 
The International Glass Prize is a triennial international competition for art and design. The theme of this edition is The Process. The Private Foundation Charlotte van de Seijs hands out 12.000 Euro of money prizes. Two residency periods at the glass studio are offered by the GlazenHuis.
 
Six jury members selected 61 works from 756 submissions from 45 countries for the exhibition, containing design objects, sculptures, paintings, photographs, video art and in situ installations.
 
Five laureates received a money prize or a residency prize. The Belgian artist Karen Vermeren received a money prize of 6000 Euro for her monumental panoramic glass painting in the tower of the museum. The Japanese artist Simsa Cho and the German artist Jens Gussek both received a money prize of 3000 Euro for the works ‘Matoi’ and ‘Stalingrad’.
 
From Sunday 25 April till 3 May the Japanese artist Rui Sasaki, laureate of the first residency period, will be at work at the glass studio of the GlazenHuis. The second residency winner, the American artist Matthew C. Szösz will come to Lommel this summer from 21 till 26 July

HANS OP DE BEECK
°1969, Turnhout (BE) - www.hansopdebeeck.com
Multi-disciplinary artist Hans Op de Beeck creates interworlds. Suspended between past and future, fiction and reality, his works sound out a mirage-like contemporary universe and a sensory vertigo where the familiar rubs shoulders with the strange. From installation to sculpture, from video to animated film, from short stories to painting and drawing, from photography to sound material, the media he employs seem to converge on the definition of a topos: a mental theatre that projects the viewer into a reflexive social and cultural experience, the intimate thinking of the human condition.
(E.Prouteau)
 
LUT MARIS
°1952, Heusden (BE) - www.demijlpaal.com
Lut Maris, fascinated by modern art and ancient cultures ever since childhood, graduated as an art historian and archaeologist and founded art gallery De Mijlpaal (The Milestone) in 1993. Symbolic for the functioning and concept of De Mijlpaal is the high voltage pylon which gives the room a characteristic appearance. From a multidisciplinary vision the work of young artists is displayed along with established values. Their work and body of ideas are shown in
dialogue or correlation with other cultures. Guided tours, lectures, discussion evenings, organization of customized concerts or visits to artists’ studios, provide further deepening and reflection. De Mijlpaal, with the ambition of being a milestone in the art landscape, invites to experience and undergo art in a special way. As a curator Lut Maris is involved in various extra muros projects such as Chillida- Verroken, COMBAT Koen Vanmechelen, BLOED in the landcommanderij Alden Biesen (commandery of Alden Biesen) and inGewikkeld in the Clarissenklooster (Convent of Saint Clare) in Hasselt.
 
AN MOONS
°1977, Bree (BE)
An Moons is advisor arts and heritage of the Flemish Minister for Culture, Media, Youth and Brussels, Sven Gatz. In this office she is responsible for visual arts, design, film, museums and heritage, among other things. In 2000, she graduated as a Master in Communication Sciences at the Free University of Brussels. Until 2013 she worked there as an assistant and researcher within the field of media and culture. Ever since her training, An has a passion for art and culture. Until recently she was director of the Media, Arts & Design Faculty (MADfaculty), the University College of Limburg. Previously she also worked part-time for the former Limburg delegate for culture, Gilbert Van Baelen.
 
PHILIP WIESMAN
°1946, Utrecht (NL) - www.wiesman.info
Philip Wiesman is a member of the Board of Directors of the Charlotte van der Seijs Foundation since it was set up in 2007. Wiesman - born in 1946 in the city of Utrecht - studied there at the academy and took evening classes in Publicity at the same time. Immediately after his training he began etching. Not much later – and not without success - he started exhibiting. His work consists mainly of landscapes and every now and then a townscape. Currently Wiesman is still being invited to participate in exhibitions and his work is therefore on show regularly throughout the year. Meanwhile his work has been purchased by the Central Museum in Utrecht and the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. He is also a member of Pulchri Studio, one of the most renowned artists associations of The Netherlands.
 
ILSE VAN ROY
°1978, Leuven (BE) - www.mad-fac.be
Ilse Van Roy has headed the glass studio at the MAD Faculty in Hasselt since 2007, guiding Bachelor and Master fine art students in the use of glass in their artistic oeuvre. By making room for fundamental research, developing crossover projects with other artistic disciplines and setting up international joint ventures, she has helped add depth to this academic course. This is also expressed in her artistic practice; in Flanders she has become one of the leading artists to have used the medium of glass in a contemporary manner and has contributed to its liberation from its traditional craft approach. In so doing, she seeks out the limits of the material and regularly combines it with other media such as photography and video, using them to create space-filling installations. In a freelance capacity, in 2012 Ilse Van Roy helped organise the first International Glass prize.
 
JEROEN MAES
°1977, Leuven (BE) - www.hetglazenhuis.be
As artistic coordinator, Jeroen Maes was in 2007 among the founders of the glass centre GlazenHuis in Lommel, Belgium. From a theoretical and practical knowledge of old and new glass, of concept and technique, he made 20 heterogeneous exhibitions, including GlassWear (2008), Tenuous Tenacity (2009), The Taste of Glass (2010), The Glass Canvas (2011) and 3 Solo Shows (2013). Several times he confronted high-quality contemporary art and design with unique historical decorative and utility glass. Between 1997 and 2005, Maes studied historical and contemporary glass at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and at the Institute for Arts and Crafts (IKA) in Mechelen. On the initiative of the Charlotte van der Seijs Foundation Jeroen Maes developed this triennial international competition for glass art and design.