User:Josephalter

Edward Leibowitz
Edward Leibovitz (1946 – Present), Romanian born, is an influential Belgium glass artist. He has "Belgian nationality and lives and works in Antwerp. He studied in Israel, in Haifa and Jerusalem and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berchem-Antwerp. He made study tours and attended in seminaries and symposiums in Germany, France, Tsjechia, the United States, Switserland, Holland, Denmark, Spain and Austria. His works are in all the glass museums respecting themselves, among others in Corning (New York), Brooklyn, Cobourg, Frauenau, Valencia, Curtius (Liege). He realised the perfect integration of glass art in architecture as the 38 m2 glass windows in the Portuguese synagogue in Antwerp in 1982 that had been heavily damaged by a terrorist attack. In 1987 he installed a 20 m2 glass window in the home of rest also in Antwerp. He inspired three filmmakers who made documentaries on glass art. He was charged by the Flemish Community to make a film when Minister Poma managed the Ministry of Culture. This same minister has granted him the “Prize of the Vocation” in 1985. He designs his own machines, experiments, corrects with the fanaticism of someone who is possessed and fort whom glass and marble are pre-eminently materials. He practises a technique with sand and an acid bath; he engraves, perforates and cuts with an appliance that is based on the power of diamond, the hardest of all materials. Diamond can only be worked by diamond itself. This explains the origin of the word that comes from the Greek “adamas”, unbendable. He improves the glass earth and has mastered glass blowing, he combines repeatedly these different techniques by placing more than once one upon another. On and with glass he can do everything: engraving, encrusting, the stained-glass windows, relief sculptures, and bulging. Leibovitz’s direct method, without any preceding sketch, is based on belief and superstition, on natural impulses, spontaneous action, and a positive philosophy of life. As he thinks with the speed of lightening and as the his control of the material is indisputable, surprising forms appear from his blowpipe, picturesque, sculptural, double or triple layered, with the rhythm of a natural something that goes without saying. Rock-crystal and water are gifts of nature: man invented glass, probably accidentally, several thousands of years ago. Since then man has imposed his will on it and written his wishes in it. This same purpose inspires Edward Leibovitz and urges him to reflect his temperament in artistic fantasies of glass."

"He has been producing highly individual glass creations since the early 1970s. He combines a purely artistic pursuit and an intense curiosity towards his material with an experimental approach to technique. Over the years he has developed and perfected his own techniques, enabling him to turn his material to his hand.

He uses a mixture of diamond engraving, carving and sandblasting, and, more recently, laser technology. Leibovitz often uses glass in combination with other materials such as bronze and marble, playing the different qualities of the materials off against each other.

As an artist he has received international recognition, his work having been the subject of several one-man exhibitions, and being included in major museum collections all over the world. Edward Leibovitz lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium."

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Works written on him, "Marcel Van Jole, EDWARD LEIBOVITZ" published by Roularta Art Books. Senior Author, Marcel Van Jole and assisting authors are Jan Walgrave, Jan Foncé, Virgil Hammock Sylva Petrová.