Perfume bottles explored in Racine Art Museum exhibition

Racine, WI March 3, 2025

Opening at the Racine Art Museum (RAM) on March 12, 2025, RAM Collects: Contemporary Perfume Bottles features an assortment of glass perfume bottles from the last quarter of the twentieth century. This exhibition will remain on display through February 21, 2026.

Perfume bottles may not be the first thing people think about relative to how glass is used, but they have a history of production and refinement that spans centuries and continents. More than just functional items, these bottles reflect layered choices relating to design, history, luxury, class, and skill. In modern societies, they are also pivotal in product brand development and advertisement.

Some contemporary glass artists have utilized perfume bottles as spaces for experimentation and exploration—not necessarily function. This desire to challenge functionality has run parallel with the desire to produce usable and practical objects. Whether creating bottles as the focus of their practice or as a limited area of production, artists combine their individualized styles and techniques with a long line of historical precedents.

Many of the artists represented in this exhibition are also known for creating other kinds of work in glass. For example, Jon Kuhn created the beloved Pendulum Cluster that hangs overhead at RAM’s front entrance. Likewise, Wisconsin artist Audrey Handler is well-known for still lives combining glass fruit and miniature figures. Her work is also on display at RAM in On Fire Part II: Surveying Women in Glass in the Late Twentieth-Century, which is currently on display through January 24, 2026.

Exhibitions at Racine Art Museum are made possible by: Platinum Partners—The Estate of Karen Johnson Boyd, David Charak, Judith and David Flegel Fund, Ron and Judith Isaacs, Racine Community Foundation, United Way of Racine County, Windgate Foundation; Diamond Partners—Ruffo Family Foundation, Ruth Arts Foundation, Diane Zebell; Gold Partners—Anonymous, A. C. Buhler Family, Robert E. Kohler Jr. Fund, Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation, Reliance Controls, Trio Foundation of St. Louis, W.T. Walker Group, Inc., Wisconsin Arts Board; Silver Partners—Anonymous, Sandy and Gus Antonneau, Baird, Lucy G. Feller, Ben and Dawn Flegel, Sharon and Tom Harty, Dave and Judy Hecker, Paula Kalke, Horizon Retail Construction, Inc., Johnson Financial Group, Lang Family Foundation, Dorothy MacVicar, Jan Serr & John Shannon, Sandra Shove, Willard and Mary Walker; Bronze Partners—Carol Baylon, Rose and Peter Christensen, Dave’s Wine Garage, Educators Credit Union, Patricia and Richard Ehlert, Express Employment Professionals, Deborah Ganaway, Carol Griseto, Hitter’s Baseball, SC Johnson, Bill and Debbie Keland, Nancy and Nick Kurten, Susan Manalli, Norbell Foundation, JoAnna Poehlman, Rasmussen Diamonds, Harold and Lois Solberg, Kathy Stanghellini, Tito’s, Twin Disc, Janna Waldeck, Barbara Waldman; Media Sponsor—Radio Milwaukee

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.