Philippa Beveridge: Fragile Ideas

Philippa Beveridge is a London- and Barcelona-based British artist who currently works from her own studio on architectural commissions, installations and sculpture in glass. She graduated in landscape architecture from the University of Greenwich, London, in 1984 and completed an MFA in Art in Architecture from the University of East London in 2007.  She studied sculpture, painting, mosaic and glass at the Massana Art School in Barcelona and advanced techniques in glass at the FCVB (Barcelona Glass Foundation).  She has exhibited in Europe and the United States and her exhibitions include solo shows at the Musée-Atelier du Verre, France, the Museo de Arte en Vidrio, Spain, the British Council and the FAD (Spanish Art and Design Association), Barcelona. Her work is held in public and private collections internationally and her architectural commissions include work for a Paris-based exhibition by the Enric Miralles Practice, two glass walls for a private residence on Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona and forty glass panels for the Can Xarina Restaurant in Catalonia. She has received several prizes including the Jutta Cuny Franz Memorial New Talent Award for sculpture in glass. Her work has featured in many publications including 500 Glass Objects (Lark Books), Glass and Print by Kevin Petrie (A&C Black), Neues Glas, New Glass Review 29 and 33 and was nominated New Talent for the Millennium by GLASS Quarterly magazine.  She is co-author of Warm Glass: A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming Techniques (Lark Books) andMosaic: Decorative Techniques (Barron). Her teaching experience includes the Musée-Atelier du Verre, France, The Studio at Corning and Urban Glass, New York and the Barcelona Glass Foundation. Since 2001, she has collaborated in the running of international artists’ workshops in Barcelona and the USA and directed the Syracuse University Abroad Visual Arts Programme for several years, heading the glass department. “After practising Landscape Architecture in London, I moved to Barcelona to study sculpture and glass. I currently work from my studio, La Ventana Indiscreta, on architectural commissions, installations and sculpture in glass. My interest in architecture has continued and I completed a Master’s in Art in Architecture in 2007. Architectural details, surface decoration, wallpapers and the natural world are among the main sources of inspiration for my work and I collect related images and fragments for personal sketch books and collages. Literature, film and history add further layers of meaning to my work. I focus on texture and surface decoration using a variety of traditional techniques together with my own technical investigation.”