The Art of Light

A comprehensive collection of artworks by stained glass artist Sir Brian Clarke. Published to accompany major exhibitions at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.

Originally produced to accompany an exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, this edition will accompany the artist’s exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design, which will have as its centrepiece 30 stained-glass screens made by Brian Clarke. This book captures what the artist himself describes as ‘the organic urgency of invention’, still maintaining the stunning beauty present in ‘the craft of the Middle Ages’ while using new technologies to reinvent the craft to make it more accessible, as demonstrated by the portable screens featured in his exhibitions.

Over the last five decades, Clarke has consistently pushed the boundaries of stained glass as a medium, both in terms of technology and its poetic potential. His reputation is based on major installation projects all over the world and the significant artistic and technical breakthroughs he has contributed to this thousand-year-old medium.

The Art of Light is a testament to Clarke’s belief that ‘stained glass has an authority and potential to deal with every human condition’. This book contains 250 illustrations that capture the depth and range of Clarke’s oeuvre, with an introduction by architect Norman Foster, and an essay by the director of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Paul Greenhalgh.

Watch on HENI Talks Brian Clarke: The Art of Light