THE Solomon Gallery has made a policy of showing contemporary glass, a courageous decision which has produced interesting exhibitions in the past - Dale Chihuly's in particular. The present one runs to more than 80 items, a sizeable opus number by any standards, and they run, the gamut from relatively straight-forward glassware - bowls, cocktail sets, vases - to the subtle and sometimes elaborate pieces of Killian Schurmann.
Schurmann's work has always seemed to me outstanding and there is a fair range of it on view, including works which are virtually sculptures in glass. He is keenly aware of effects of light and possesses an innate taste which is refined without being antiseptic; finally, he has the merit of superfine craftsmanship.
Eva Wawrzyniak's pieces inhabit a rather similar territory and, are interesting and imaginative, although they tend to have a single, frontal viewpoint instead of being viewable all round. This area of "art glass" is continued by Salah Kawala, who has a strong, original sense of colour as well as being inventive in her shapes.
Isabelle Peyrat is another practitioner who avoids either functionalism or pretentious artiness.
Some of the exhibitors display actual stained-glass panels, notably Peadar Lamb and Peter Young. The bowls of Susan Mulholland, and the work of Aoife Burke are also out of the ordinary; but though some of the exhibits verge on commercialism, there is plenty to choose from all round.
