PITTSFIELD, MA.- The Berkshire Museum is presenting Homage to the Glacier, an exhibition of glass sculptures by Peter Bremers and paintings by
Jim Schantz, exploring the glaciers of Iceland and the idea of the impermanence of beauty. On view through January 5, 2025.
One of the most dramatic locations in Iceland sits on her southeastern coast, where the Vatnajökull Glacier (the second largest in Europe) meets the Atlantic Ocean. Jökulsárlón, is a large glacial lagoon (currently about 7 square miles) that developed in the late 1940s as the glacier receded inland. Glacial chunks that for ages had calved directly into the Atlantic now float majestically in the lagoon. Grand slabs of ice gather at the lake’s narrow egress, melt into smaller blocks and take temporary residence on the black stone beach, and eventually roll out to sea. As spectacular a sight as it is, Jökulsárlón is a stunning reminder of the effects of climate change on glaciers. Icelandic glaciers reached their maximum size at the end of the 19th century, and as Vatnajökull melts, the lake gets bigger. It has increased fourfold in size since the 1970s and is now the deepest lake in Iceland.
Peter Bremers, Inside the Ice Cave V, 2024. Cast Glass
It is no wonder that Jökulsárlón attracts artists as a subject. The clarity of the water and ice offers endless color exploration, the reflective nature of the materials is ripe for the study of light, and the combination of jagged and organic forms allows for unlimited variety in composition. Beyond the aesthetic prowess of the location is her readiness to be both a place for meditation and a mirror of humanity’s fraught relationship with the earth.
Painter Jim Schantz and glass artist Peter Bremers traveled to Iceland together in May of 2023, and Vatnajökull and Jökulsárlón became a major source of inspiration for their work. Though they work in vastly different media, Bremers and Schantz both create art that embodies the beauty of nature. In addition, their personal and creative affiliation with the natural world has developed their commitment to environmental protection. For 15 months, the artists “worked separately but with the same memory,” says Bremers. He says that the work is important because it is “such a political topic — it shouldn’t be. It should be beyond political” because of the effects a changing climate will have for generations to come.
Icelandic glaciers have been rapidly retreating for more than two decades and glacier down-wasting is one of the most obvious consequences of the warming climate. Runoff from the glaciers has also been changing, and new glacial lakes have formed or increased in size in front of many of them, while some of these monumental glaciers have completely disappeared.
Peter Bremers, Öræfajökull, 2024
“Visiting Iceland for the fourth time, now in the company of my friend and colleague Jim Schantz brought a specific joy to me. Sharing beauty with other people always enhances the experience but doing so with a fellow artist has a special value. Though the topic of the disappearing glaciers is a dramatic truth, the beauty of Iceland's ice masses is still there to visit. Traveling with a fellow artist and sharing what draws our specific attention gives the rare opportunity to look through somebody else's eyes, in this case a painter. As I see ice as 3D glass, Jim looks at landscapes to be translated into impressions on paper or canvas. Both are interpretations of what we individually perceive. The results are different in medium and dimensions, but they share the beauty that we are losing due to accelerating global warming: these wondrous glaciers. Our works complete what we witnessed and express our love for nature, as well as our concern that future generations will not be able to see or experience this beauty of the glaciers.”
Bremers explores both the outer and inner landscape, expressing in glass how the unseeable vibrations of the earth create a sense of wellbeing, how his personal journey of spiritual growth is always transforming, and how humans are changed by their encounters with the world. Monochromatic glass sculptures are made dynamic and varied as light passes through undulations of thickness, carved facets, and negative space. From his first visit to Antarctica in 2001, which he credits as being one of the most influential on his work, he identified the icebergs as “nature’s floating sculpture garden” and endeavored to honor them in glass.
In some ways, the work that Schantz and Bremers created after their joint trip to Iceland could not be more different. Schantz’s richly worked pastels and oils have a soft warmth while Bremers sharp-edged sculptures have a pristine clarity. Schantz reveals the spectrum of pinks, greens, and blues that live within the ice, and as with his work featuring the Berkshires, pays particular attention to how the light works on the surfaces at different times of day. The violet tinge of Jökulsárlón Dusk gives way to orange in Jökulsárlón Sunset, though in each iteration the mighty floes stand sentinel against the changing sky. Bremers, on the other hand, focuses on a single color in its many light-tinged manifestations. The blue of Hvannadalshnúkur is a deep cobalt on the underside of the carved elements and barely there in the thin curves. Because the glass is translucent, layers of blue work upon each other to create a range of hues that shift as the viewer changes perspective.
In other ways, there is a striking similarity in their work. Each in their own way captures the depth and layers of the scene, Schantz through a receding haziness of form and Bremers through volume, carving, and faceting. Schantz’s Jökulsárlón Reflection and Bremer’s Öræfajökull both highlight the juxtaposition of sharp peaks and mighty crevices characteristic of the area. Both are a celebration of the gamut of blues in the ice—from indigo to cerulean to almost-white. Both demonstrate how different interpretations of the same place can co-exist and complement one another, because within our unique visions there is a universality of experience.
The artists point out that they believe the way to motivate the public to care about the effects of climate change is, rather than preaching, to take the approach of highlighting the beauty that will disappear if we don't recognize and work to slow or stop the negative human impact upon climate.
Berkshire Museum, 39 South St., Pittsfield, Massachusetts
The exhibition catalog features full page images as well as essays by Glaciologist, Dr. Allen Pope, and Cultural Essayist Jeanne Koles.
Peter Bremers attended the University of Fine Arts (Sculpture Department) in Maastricht, Netherlands. His introduction to glass came by accident after he was well-established as a light-sculptor, when he wandered into a glassblowing workshop with Andries Copier, which led to his studies at the Jan Van Eyck Academy, Post Academic Institute for Art & Design, also in Maastricht. He attended workshops at The Oude Horn in Leerdam and became an assistant to Bernard Hessen. In 1989, he studied with Lino Tagliapietra and worked with Neil Wilkin in England, where he produced objects using the graal technique. His works are in major public collections including, the Art Museum of the Hague, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Imagine Museum in Florida, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark, and Eskisehir Metropolitan Contemporary Glass Arts Museum, Turkey.
Jim Schantz received his Master’s Degree in Painting at the University of California, Davis and his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts at Syracuse University. He also studied at The Hornsey School of Art, London and at the Skowhegan School in Maine. His works are in numerous public collections, including: The Berkshire Museum, The Center for Spiritual Life at Emerson College; Lowe Art Museum, Syracuse University; The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury MA; Nelson Museum, U.C. Davis; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; Skidmore College; Simon’s Rock of Bard College, and University of Massachusetts. Jim has had several solo exhibitions at Pucker Gallery in Boston. His work has also been featured in exhibitions at the Berkshire Museum, The Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, The Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, The Albany Institute of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum.
