SLOP

Japan

SLOP
10th Anniversary Exhibit

There will be a very limited online release of available merch items after the opening - Get on our mailing list to be notified of the drop time

Black Book gallery is pleased to announce a seminal exhibition celebrating 10 years of SLOP – a Japanese artist collective working at the intersection of design, pop culture and blown glass pipe-making. The exhibit will feature new glass pieces, as well as a 40-page full-color zine with pictures from the past 10 years of SLOP, in addition to other curated merch. The VIP preview will take place from 3-6pm on Saturday, November 2nd and include hors d’oeuvres and an open bar; reservations are required and tickets are available on the Black Book Gallery website. From 6-9pm the exhibition is free and open to the general public.

SLOP creates functional sculptures. The collective is best known for their C.U.P. – Contemporary Undercover Pipe – which appropriates the infamous McDonald’s cup in their interpretation of the glass pipe, resulting in a subversive design object that pays homage to other lowbrow subcultural movements ranging from anime and manga to skateboarding, graffiti and HipHop. By infusing an ancient art form – glass blowing – with a punk ethos, SLOP has elevated pipe making from a fringe movement to the echelons of avant-garde contemporary design. Furthermore, the growing acceptance of cannabis usage in both North America and abroad has cemented SLOP’s status as visionary pioneers in this burgeoning art form.

It’s important to emphasize the legal battles, as well as the political and social stigmas, that artists working in the pipe-making medium have had to overcome. Much like the so-called “Degenerate artists” of the Third Reich, pipe artists of the 21st century have feared governmental oppression and persecution. In 2003, a series of raids known as ”Operation Pipe Dreams” (OPD) were executed by the U.S. government with the intent to stop the production and distribution of drug paraphernalia. In particular, they targeted people working in the production and sales of marijuana pipes and bongs. Over 50 people, including head shop owners, pipe makers and sellers from across the country were indicted on charges of conspiring to traffic drug paraphernalia.

The U.S. Attorney General making these decisions at the time was John Ashcroft. Ashcroft cited the use and growing spread of the internet as one of the main motivations for the raids. “With the advent of the Internet, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has exploded,” Ashcroft said. “The drug paraphernalia business is now accessible in anyone’s home with a computer and Internet access….Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge. This illegal billion-dollar industry will no longer be ignored by law enforcement.” Many of the people listed in the indictment would go on to pay fines and serve home detention, but the cumulative effect of this takedown resulted in the destruction of many hard earned careers and futures. Suddenly, pipe making was on the radar of the federal government and they seemed willing to go to great lengths to shut it down for good.
While it’s true that the internet was an important sales and distribution tool, in the years following the raids it also served to fortify the pipe making community and its artists. In response to OPD, the majority of pipe making artists went further underground and continued to hone their craft, enabling their subculture to not only survive, but to thrive. For many artists, finding their community online catalyzed new levels of creativity and a collective desire to push the boundaries of pipe making into functional pieces of art; the phrase “drug paraphernalia” would no longer apply to their work.

With the advent of social media, the government quickly lost control of their preferred narrative. Individual artists and collectives, liberated from the fear of legal retaliation, built their own massive followings as their work gained exposure and widespread visibility. The sheer amount of information that became available in social media feeds, and the ease with which it flowed across networks, resulted in a new realm of personal and cultural expression and, by extension, led to the emergence of pipe making as a cultural and artistic phenomenon.
Fast forward to now: the stigma of “drug paraphernalia” previously applied to pipes is quickly fading and these design objects have secured a niche within the fine art world as intricate, delicate and functional sculptures. Craftsmanship and precision are used to convey beauty, emotion and utility, with roots in the time-honored traditions of glass blowing techniques.

SLOP epitomizes the artistry inherent to the blown glass pipe culture taking shape today. Members of the collective have apprenticed with well-known glass blowers in the Pacific Northwest and in Tokyo, linking their contemporary craft to a wider artistic movement on a global scale, while developing their own unique voice and contributing to this growing cultural renaissance. Black Book Gallery is proud to have supported their efforts over the past several years, while mainstream society (slowly but surely) catches up. Please join us in celebrating the cultural shift currently underway and in honoring the past, present and future of SLOP.


CONTEXT Art Miami 2018
December 5th – December 10th 2018

CONTEXT Art New York 2017
May 5th – May 8th 2017

CONTEXT Art Miami 2016
November 29th – December 4th 2016

Trailblazers Group Show 2015
April 19th 2015

Japan based glass blowing collective well known for their C.U.P – Contemporary/Undercover/Pipe

@slopglass on Instagram

AVAILABLE ARTWORK

3D C.U.P I
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $7,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

3D C.U.P II
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $7,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

3D C.U.P III
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $8,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

3D C.U.P IV
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $7,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

FUME C.U.P I
Media: Borosilicate glass – Combination of fume and patterns with a fume pattern on downstem
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $6,500
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

FUME C.U.P II
Media: Borosilicate glass – Combination of fume and patterns with a fume pattern on downstem
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $6,500
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

2D C.U.P I
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $6,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

2D C.U.P II
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $6,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

2D C.U.P III
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $6,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

PANDA C.U.P I
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $5,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

PANDA C.U.P II
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $5,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

UNTITLED C.U.P I
Media: Borosilicate glass
Size: 8.5 x 5 x 4.5 Inches
Year: 2019
Price: $5,000
Includes Pelican
Availability: SOLD

Ashtray
Media: Glass
Size: 4 incehs wide
Year: 2019
Price: $10.00 - Limit 2 per customer/order
Pint Glass
Media: Glass
Size: 6 inches tall
Year: 2019
Price: $10.00 - Limit 2 per customer/order