Josh Simpson (glass artist)

Josh Simpson
Josh Simpson
Born	(1949-08-17) August 17, 1949 (age 76) New Haven, Connecticut
Known for	Glass Artist
Spouse	Catherine Coleman
Website	www.joshsimpsonglass.com

Josh Simpson (born August 17, 1949 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American glass artist. His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries around the world, and is held in the collections of museums such as the Corning Museum of Glass; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Renwick Gallery. ^[1]

Career

Simpson's career began in 1972, when he was a senior at Hamilton College. At the time, seniors were permitted to pursue their own interests during the month of January, so he spent that period practicing glass blowing in Vermont. Simpson became so enamored of working with glass that a month became a year, and while he did return to Hamilton briefly to complete his psychology degree, he has been pursuing this passion ever since. ^[2] He is particularly well known for his planets, glass paperweights ranging in size from about an inch in diameter to the 107-pound Megaplanet the Corning Museum of Glass commissioned in 2005. ^[3] He originally began making planets in the mid-1970s, when he was trying to capture the interest of eighth-graders during glass blowing demonstrations. Inspired by the story of the Apollo astronauts seeing the earth hanging in space like a blue marble, he began creating marble-sized planets for the students. ^[2] This early inspiration developed into a major artistic direction. In addition to exhibiting and selling these works, Simpson also hides them in various settings across the globe, and even offers the public the opportunity to participate through his Infinity Project. ^[4] Other significant portions of Simpson's body of work are formed from materials he refers to as "New Mexico glass" and "Tektite glass". The vibrant blue color of New Mexico glass evokes the night sky in summer, and is also an attempt to duplicate the color of Cherenkov radiation, which Simpson saw while touring nuclear power plants. The Tektite glass is based on a spectrographic analysis Simpson had performed on a natural tektite. He recreated this material in his furnace, discovering in the process that it is very difficult to work. While he uses the New Mexico glass to create elegant platters, bowls, and vases, the greyish-black Tektite glass often resembles lava, seeming to have taken its shape without human intervention. ^[2]

In 2014, Josh collaborated with Westfield State University and "Westfield on Weekends" to have a nearly year-long celebration of the "Universe according to Josh Simpson". Several gallery exhibits and displays of Josh's work were displayed in Westfield Universities Downtown Art Gallery and The Westfield Athenaeum. The final big event in the series was "Megaplanet Palooza" a street and music festival held on Westfield's downtown Park Square. ^[5]

In 2018-19, Simpson's solo exhibit, "Galactic Landscapes" at the Berkshire Museum (Pittsfield, MA), curated by Craig Langlois, celebrated the vital and inspiring interconnection between art and science in Simpson's glass works.

In 2022, in recognition of Simpson's 50th year as a successful glass artist, Schiffer Publishing produced the book "Josh Simpson: 50 Years of Visionary Glass. The celebration of Simpson's 50th year continued at Springfield Museums D'Amour Museum of Art (Springfield, MA) with the solo exhibition "Josh Simpson: Visionary Explorations in Glass," curated by Maggie North. Both of these major works pulled together the historic sweep of Simpson's glass inventions and achievements over the five decades of his career.

In 2024-2025, the Springfield Museums further recognized Simpson's contribution to the studio glass movement and the world of glass art with another solo exhibition, "Gilded Echoes: The Tiffany Influence on Josh Simpson's Glasswork." Also curated by Maggie North, this display placed the works of these two great American glass-makers in dialogue, examining Louis Comfort Tiffany’s influence on Simpson and their shared creative impulses.

In 2025, the Sandwich Glass Museum (Sandwich, MA) continued this recognition of Simpson's major role in the world of modern glass art, with another solo exhibition with the same name as his published history, "Josh Simpson: 50 Years of Visionary Glass" (curated by Melissa Brooks). This show simultaneously celebrated the 200th year of the Sandwich Glass Museum and Simpson’s fifty auspicious years of working with glass, "bringing the history of glass art into the present with a brilliant exhibit of mesmerizing artworks, suggesting the timelessness and infinity of our universe."

Personal

Simpson graduated from Kent School in 1968. He is married to the American astronaut Catherine Coleman. ^[6] He has two children, Josiah and Jamey. ^{[2] [7]}

References

1. "Josh Simpson Contemporary Glass - Resume". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
2. Chaikin, Andrew (2001). Josh Simpson: Glass Artist. GUILD Publishing. ISBN   1-893164-09-8.
3. "Josh Simpson's 100-Pound Megaplanet" . Retrieved 7 October 2012.
4. "Marbles in Space: Josh Simpson's "Infinity Project"" . Retrieved 7 October 2012.
5. "The Universe According to Josh Simpson | Westfield, MA Celebrates the Artistry of Josh Simpson June-October 2014". Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
6. "Astronaut Bio: Catherine Coleman" . Retrieved 7 October 2012.
7. "Shelburne glass artist Josh Simpson will have to lift his eyes to the skies to see astronaut wife Catherine Coleman on Christmas". 25 December 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2012.