Daily Art Fixx

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Dale Chihuly: Glass Sculpture

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anemone-wall-close-up-saint-louis-art-museum-dale-chihuly
More incredible work by renowned American glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. “Chihuly is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the studio glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. However, Chihuly’s contribution extends well beyond the boundaries both of this movement and even the field of glass: his achievements have influenced contemporary art in general. Chihuly’s practice of using teams has led to the development of complex, multipart sculptures of dramatic beauty that place him in the leadership role of moving blown glass out of the confines of the small, precious object and into the realm of large-scale contemporary sculpture.”

Chihuly’s are on display in more than 200 museums worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He is currently exhibiting at the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio,  The Gallery, CityCenter, Las Vegas, Nevada, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Frist Center for the Arts, Nashville, Tennessee, and the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee.

To see more of Chihuly’s work, visit Chihuly.com.

See more glass art by Canadian flameworker Brad Jesson

Glass Sculptor: Dale Chihuly

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Dale Chihuly - Sea Blue and Green Tower

Today I stumbled upon the fantastical glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly. Chihuly was born in Tacoma Washington on September 20, 1941. He holds a Master of Science in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as a Master of Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1968, he studied glass in Venice on a Fulbright Fellowship and in 1971 founded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington.

After an auto accident in 1976 that blinded him in one eye, and then a body surfing mishap  in 1979 where he dislocated his shoulder, Chihuly could no longer hold a glass blowing pipe and hired others to help realize his creations. In a 2006 interview with the Seatle Post Intelligencer he explains – “Once I stepped back, I liked the view,” allowing the artist to see the sculpture from more angles and anticipate problems faster. Chihuly views himself as “more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor.”

The sculpture above is called Sea Blue and Green Tower. It stands 15 x 8 x 7’ and was on exhibit at the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum in 2008. With so many of Chihuly’s works on display in museums and galleries around the world, and frequent exhibitions, I’m bound to bump into one sooner or later. I just hope it’s sooner. To learn more, visit his website at Chihuly.com.

Sources:DaleChihuly.com, Wikipedia, Seattle PI