Wesley Rasko’s passion for art began at a young age. Growing up, his days were filled with various before and after school art programs, Wildflower Art Centre courses, and extracurricular art classes. Artistic expression came natural to him, and it was this ability that brought him to Alberta College of Art and Design. There, he studied sculpture for a year before returning with his father to his family’s ancestral home in the Czech and Slovak Republic. Together they visited different art galleries and met two masters of glass casting. One such artist was Prague-based Bohumil Elias.
“Arriving at Elias’ home, a vast number of overhead lights were turned on which brought to life all the colorful glass sculptures which filled the space with a magical aura. My jaw dropped, I fell to my knees and was left awe-stuck by the beauty that stood in front of me. Within a few minutes my life changed as Bohumil made me an offer which simply couldn’t be refused: to stay with him and learn as his apprentice. My father traveled back to Canada on his own, leaving me with my new master and mentor in life.”
However upon returning to Canada, Rasko went on to study engineering in Calgary for two years. In intervals, he worked as a civil engineer, and returned to work in the Czech glass studio during his breaks. Eventually, he opened a studio of his own, north of Prague. It wasn’t until a near death experience in a triple rollover accident that Rasko made the decision that came to define his path in life. Surving the accident strengthened Rasko’s belief that God intended for him to live on and pursue his passion for art. Today he devotes himself to creating breathtaking glass sculptures out of his home studio in the Czech Republic, and exhibits his work in art shows, galleries, and collections around the world.
EXHIBITIONS
2017 -
Plateaux Gallery London, England
Arts Palm Beach, West Palm Beach
2015 -
glassweekend’15, represented by Morgan Contemporary Glass
Gallery, WheatonArts, Millville, NJ
New Chelsea Art Fair, London, England
Art Breda Breda, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Original Voices, Chicago, IL
Affordable Art Fair Battersea, London, England
Color Break, Bloomfield, Canada
Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
2014 -
CONTEXT, Art Miami, Miami, FL
In the Heat of the Night, Konigswinter, Germany
PAN Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Edinburgh Art Fair, Edinburgh, Scotland
Affordable Art
Fair Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
SOFA Chicago, Chicago, IL
Cambridge City Art Fair, Cambridge, England
(e)merge art fair, Washington, D.C.
Art Osaka, Osaka, Japan
SoHo Art Gallery, Osaka, Japan
SEEART Fair, Tunbridge Wells, England
Ningbo
Museum of Art, Ningbo, China
Select Art Fair, New York, NY
Toronto Art Expo, Toronto, Canada
New Chelsea Art Fair, London, England
Affordable Art Fair New York, New York, NY
OENO Gallery, Bloomfield, Canada
Affordable Art Fair Battersea, London, England
Sheridan Russell Gallery, London, England
Artist Project, Toronto, Canada
Salon Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Habatat Galleries, West Palm Beach, FL
2013 -
PAN Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Affordable Art Fair Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
CUTLOG, Paris, France
Affordable Art Fair Battersea, London, England
Galeria Bruno Massa, Paris, France
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Toronto, Canada
Festival of Art Glass, Karlovy Vary,
Czech Republic
Affordable Art Fair New York, New York, NY
Amarynth Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Toronto Art Expo, Toronto, Canada
Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Brussels, Germany
2012 -
PAN Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Zelezny Brod Glass Exhibition, Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
ARTi, Den Haag, Netherlands
Levenat Art Gallery, Shanghai, China
Festival of Art Glass, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
2011 -
Etienne Gallery, Oisterwijk, Netherlands
Festival of Art Glass, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Toronto, Canada
Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
2010 -
Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Etherlands
Festival of Art Glass, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Affordable Art Fair Paris, Paris, France
Zelezny Brod Glass Exhibition, Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
Monaco Art Show, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Affordable Art Fair Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Moscow International Art Salon, Moscow, Russia
Ronen Art Vision, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Galerii Slovenskej Vytvarnej Unie Bratislava, Slovak Republic
2009 -
Montreal Art Expo, Montreal, Canada
Jean Claude Chapelotte Galerie, Luxembourg
Internationale Glaskunstbeurs Leerdam, Leerdam, Netherlands
Toronto Art Expo, Toronto, Canada
Galerie MY Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic
2008
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Toronto, Canada
Plateaux Gallery, London, England
ARTETIK, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Galerie Na Rynku, Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
Sandra Ainsley Gallery, Toronto, Canada
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Katsuhisa Suzuki Tokyo, Japan
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, United States
Ernsting Foundation, Wiesbaden, Germany
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
Museums Vledder Vledder, Netherlands
Addi Ryckaert Schoten, Belgium
Gangtai Museum of Shanghai, Shanghai, China
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