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Jeff originally trained in theatre in Washington, DC, before moving to Edinburgh, Scotland to obtain his Masters in glass painting. He has won top prize in the 2019 British Glass Biennale, Second Prize in the 2014 Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass, Europe’s largest prize for artists working with glass. He was the 2014 Stephen Procter Fellow at the Australian National University and a 2016 Fellow at the Creative Glass Center of America.
His work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the European Museum for Modern Glass, Coburg, Germany; the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark and the Glasmuseum Frauenau, Germany. He teaches and has a studio in Edinburgh
Jeff Zimmer creates works with glass that explore ambiguity, morality and mortality in contemporary society and politics, and engage with the material and symbolic properties of glass, as well as the sensual experiences of mystery and light. He subverts notions of light in glass, investigating its capacity for evocation, mystery and ambiguity in place of its traditional associations with clarity, divinity, revelation and simplified notions of truth.
Born: 1970, Minot, ND, USA. Currently Resides in Edinburgh, UK
Education
Masters, Glass & Architectural Glass, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK, 2005
Collections (Public)
Victoria
& Albert Museum, London, UK
European
Museum for Modern Glass/Veste Coburg, Coburg, DE
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, Prague, CZ
Museum of American Glass, US
Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, DK
Glasmuseum Frauenau, DE
North Lands Creative Glass, UK
Exhibitions (Selected, Group)
2019
Field Notes, The Byre, Latheronwheel, UK
British Glass Biennale, Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge, UK
Loud and Clear, New Brewery Arts (organized by National Glass Centre), Cirencester, UK
Transparency: An LGBTQ+ Glass Art Exhibition, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, US
Plain Sight, Pilchuck Exhibition Space, Seattle, WA, US
Alight, Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2018
IGLASS 2018, Levant Gallery, Shanghai, CN
Open (invited artist), Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
A New State of Matter: Contemporary Glass, Boise Art Museum, US
Collect (represented by Bullseye Gallery), London, UK
Current, Tatha Gallery, Newport-on-Tay, UK
Artists Against Gun Violence, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC, US
Loud and Clear, Harley Gallery (organized by National Glass Centre), Worksop, UK
Zimmer/Simmons, North Lands Creative, Lybster, UK
2017
British Glass Biennale, Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge, UK
Transparency: An LGBTQ+ Glass Art Exhibition, Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, US
Embracing Narrative, Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, US
Bild-Werk @ 30, Galerie am Museum, Frauenau, DE
2016
Fly, Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
Black and White and Back Again, London Glassblowing, London, UK
Neues Glas – Junges Glas, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, DE
British Glass, Etienne Gallery, Oisterwijk, NL
Elemental, North Lands Gallery, Lybster & Coburg House Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2015
Grand Opening, Dock Gallery, Rotterdam, NL
International Glass Symposium Exhibition, Glass Museum, Nový Bor, CZ
43rd International Glass Invitational Award Winners, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, IN, USA
Clarity, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK
43rd International Glass Invitational (Catalogue), Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI, USA
Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2014
Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass (Catalogue), Veste Coburg & European Museum for Modern Glass, Coburg, DE
SOFA Chicago (with Craft Scotland)
Absorb, Canberra Glassworks, Canberra, AU
UK Glass, Het GlazenHuis, Flemish Centre for Contemporary Glass Art, Lommel, BE
Shattered: Contemporary Sculpture in Glass, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, USA
ArtAspen (with Habatat Galleries)
ArtHamptons (with Habatat Galleries)
2013
Light and Shadow, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Ebeltoft, DK
Royal Scottish Academy Open, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK
2012
European Applied Arts Prize (Catalogue), Exhibition Hall “Anciens Abattoirs”, Mons, BE
Cultural Exchange (Catalogue), North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster, UK
Beyond Tradition: Contemporary Glass In A Museum Environment, Caithness Horizons, Thurso, UK
Lüstern Wohnen : Lichter, Leuchten, Lüster, Lampen, Galerie am Museum, Frauenau, DE
2011
Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Invited Guest Country – Craft Scotland, USA
British Studio Glass, European Museum of Modern Glass, Rosenau, Coburg, DE
Trove (Catalogue), Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Perth, UK
Washington Glass School 10th Anniversary, Longview Gallery, Washington, DC, USA
Fête de Verre: Futur, Urban Glass, NYC, USA
2010
Essence, The Glass Art Gallery, London, UK
British Glass Biennale (Catalogue), Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge, UK
Remarkable Glass (Catalogue), Contemporary Applied Arts, London, UK
Vitreous North, Works of Int’l Artists at North Lands Creative Glass, Timespan Museum and Arts Centre, Helmsdale, UK
Migrate, Scottish Glass Society 30th Anniversary Exhibition, , Inverness Museum & Art Gallery; St. Fergus Gallery Wick; Iona Gallery, Kingussie; & Broadfield House Glass Museum, Stourbridge, UK
2009
Visual Arts Scotland Exhibition, City Arts Centre, Edinburgh, UK
2008
British Glass Biennale (Catalogue), Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge, UK
2005
Masters Exhibition, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK
2004
Anonymous, Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC, USA
2003
Propaganda of War, Gallery at Warehouse, Washington, DC, USA
Art*o*Mat, Touring exhibition, various venues in USA
Publications
Journal of Craft Research, ‘Luminous Ambiguity’ by Jeff Zimmer, Vol 7, No. 1 (Spring 2016)
Elemental (Catalogue Essay), Scottish Glass Society, Summer 2016
Neues Glas/New Glass; Art & Architecture, ‘Profile: Jeff Zimmer’ by Duncan Macmillan,
Volume 1, (May 2014)
New Glass Review 34, 31 & 30, 2013, 2010, 2009
La Revue de la Ceramique et du Verre, 'Jeff Zimmer: Variations sur le Paradoxe' by
Pascale Nobécourt, September/October 2013
GAS Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 6, (December 2012 – January 2013), ‘Member Profile:
Jeff Zimmer,’ pp. 14-15
Craft Arts International, no. 80 (Autumn 2010), Reviews of '2010 British Glass Biennale' and
'Remarkable Glass’
Neues Glas/New Glass, Autumn 2009
Sustaining Stained Glass. Judith Schaechter, Glass, #92 (Fall 2003) 46-53
Teaching
2019 - Shadow and Subversion, North Lands Creative, Lybster, UK
2018 - Present – Ongoing independent workshops in glass fusing, painting and stained glass, taught at Edinburgh Art Glass.
2018 - Multaka: Museum as Meeting Point, Pergamon Museum & Berlin Glas, Berlin, DE
2017 - Transparency, Imagery and Layers, American Glass Guild Conference Workshop, Oatka School of Glass, Batavia, NY, US
2016
Multaka: Museum as Meeting Point, Pergamon Museum & Berlin Glas, Berlin, DE
Contemporary Glass Painting and Layering, Urban Glass, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Contemporary Glass Painting and Layering Skills Class, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster, UK
Painting on Glass, Berlin Glass, Berlin, DE
2015
Substance and Spectacle, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA, USA
Immersive Worlds and the Enigma of Light, Bild-Werk, Frauenau, DE
2013
Painting on Glass – Skills Class, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster, UK
Imagery on Flat Glass: Into Three Dimensions, Bild-Werk, Frauenau, DE
Creating 3-D Images on Flat Glass, National Sculpture Factory, Cork IE
2011 - Imagery on Flat Glass: Into Three Dimensions, Bild-Werk, Frauenau, DE
2012-2013
Tutor, Glass Department, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, UK
2006 – 2018
Glass Design, Office of Lifelong Learning & Architecture Departments, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
(as Assistant)
2014
Painting in the Space of Glass, with Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster, UK
2012
Interdisciplinary Glass, with Ursula Huth, Barbara Idzikowská & Scott Chaseling , Bild- Werk, Frauenau, DE
Painting in the Space of Glass, with Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster, UK
2011
Painting on Glass, with Cappy Thompson, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster, UK
2009 & 2010
Rolls Ups, with Scott Chaseling, Bild-Werk, Frauenau, DE
2003-2004
Washington Glass School, Washington, DC, USA
Other Relevant Professional Experience
Juror, Inches Carr Mentoring Award 2019
Juror, Stanislav Libenský Award 2018
Presenter, Glass Nexus Forum, North Lands Creative, UK 2018
Presenter, Craft Scotland Conference, National Museum of Scotland, UK 2018
Panelist, Approaching Galleries & Curators, Visual Arts Scotland @ RSA, UK 2018
External Examiner, Glass Department, University of Wales Trinity St. David 2015 – 2019
Presenter, American Glass Guild Conference, Rochester, US 2017
Juror, Glass Art Society, Saxe Emerging Artist Award 2016
Presenter/Featured Artist, International Glass Symposium, Nový Bor, CZ 2015
Sole Proprietor, Jeff Zimmer Glass 2009 - Present
Studio Assistant June 2006 – October 2009
Edinburgh Stained Glass House, Edinburgh, UK
Artist in Residence January 2006 – September 2009
Glass Department, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK
Manager of Cultural Programs/Outreach Coordinator May 2002 – August 2004
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
Awards
Winner – British Glass Biennale 2019
Second Prize, Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass 2014
Celeste Art Prize (Shortlist), Goldsmiths, University of London 2006
Grants & Residencies
Inches Carr Trust Grant 2019
City of Edinburgh Visual Arts & Craft Makers Award 2019
Bullseye Byre Residency, North Lands Creative, Lybster, UK 2019
Residency, Bullseye Glass, Portland, OR, US 2017
Fellowship, Creative Glass Center of America/WheatonArts 2016
Stephen Procter Fellowship, Australian National University 2014
Edinburgh Craft Makers Award 2015
Arts Trust Scotland Grant Recipient 2010
Professional Development Grant Recipient, Scottish Arts Council 2006 & 2009
Gulbenkian Residency, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster 2006
Overseas Student Scholarship, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh 2004 - 2005