Exhibit "Perceptions of Curiosity" Opens in the University Gallery Feb. 1

SALISBURY, MD--"Perceptions of Curiosities," a unique exhibit of blown glass and found objects by two emerging artists, runs February 1-March 3 at the University Gallery in Fulton Hall at Salisbury State University. Daniel Marder and Jennifer Kelting, who relocated to Maryland's Eastern Shore from Chicago's North Shore, bring an urban sensibility to an increasingly popular medium: hot glass or glass blowing.

In 1998 and again this year, Kelting has been cited as one of the top 100 new glass artists worldwide by "New Glass Review." Marder, whose artwork has been exhibited in both Australia and Mexico as well as nationally, uses glass sculpturally, often in larger forms several feet high, with a variety of materials, ranging from wood, metal and neon to electric motors. Slides of his and Kelting's work are in the Rakow Library of The Corning Museum of Glass. The two artists earned their Bachelors of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and their Masters of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. They also studied together at Ox Bow in Saugituck, MI, and in Rome, Italy.

Both artists have explored different possibilities with glass. Marder has made it the basis of installations at The Foundry (Rhode Island School of Design), MWMWM Gallery in Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago, and Virtrium Gallery and Creative Artists Network, both in Philadelphia. Kelting, who increasingly is working with found objects in a style similar to controversial British artist Damien Hirst, has exhibited at the Pentimenti Gallery and Fringe Festival, Philadelphia; Urban Glass, Brooklyn; Atmosphere Gallery, Manhattan; and Teri Gallery, Chicago. Kelting credits her brother, an artist who was born with Down's Syndrome, for stimulating her interest in the history of what she calls "life as commodity"--from slavery to freak shows. Although Marder enjoys the decorative arts, he is committed to expanding the accessibility of glass art as sculpture. Both he and Kelting teach at Salisbury State to overflowing classes.

A reception for "Perceptions of Curiosities" is scheduled for Friday, February 11, from 5-9 p.m. in the University Gallery. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday- Sunday noon-4 p.m. For more information call 410-543-6271.