Chihuly Garden and Glass opened it’s doors in May of 2012, letting the viewer into the world of all things Dale Chuhuly, his inspirations and his influences. This exhibit brings together many of the elements of his work, including drawings, signature glass series, large architectural installations and his personal collections.
This is something everyone should see, the colors, the grandeur, it is awe-inspiring, all encompassing, you just can’t describe it in words, you just have to see this wonder for yourself.
Dale Chihuly Bio:
Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.
In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art.
His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Chihuly has created more than a dozen well-known series of works, among them, Cylinders and Baskets in the1970s; Seaforms, Macchia, Venetians, and Persians in the 1980s; Niijima Floats and Chandeliers in the 1990s; and Fiori in the 2000s. He is also celebrated for large architectural installations. In 1986, he was honored with a solo exhibition, Dale Chihuly objets de verre, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, in Paris. In 1995, he began Chihuly Over Venice, for which he created sculptures at glass factories in Finland, Ireland, and Mexico, and then installed them over the canals and piazzas of Venice.
In 1999, Chihuly started an ambitious exhibition; Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem; more than 1 million visitors attended the Tower of David Museum to view his installations. In 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London curated the exhibition Chihuly at the V&A. Chihuly’s lifelong fascination for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within botanical settings. His Garden Cycle began in 2001 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. Chihuly exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London, in 2005. Other major exhibition venues include the de Young Museum in San Francisco, in 2008; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2011; and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2013. Chihuly Garden and Glass, a long-term exhibition, opened at Seattle Center in 2012.
Dale Chihuly, “Glass itself is so much like water. If you let it go on its own, it almost ends up looking like something that came from the sea.”
Dale Chihuly is very prolific; he has managed to be a premiere glass artist for more than 5 decades, and still is very active in all of his projects. You just don’t contemplate glass blowing without having Chihuly in your thoughts. Pop music has the Beatles, the art of glass blowing has Chihuly.
This is one exhibit in Seattle that you don’t want to miss.
Chihuly Garden and Glass
305 Harrison St
Seattle, WA 98109
http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/
http://www.chihuly.com/
* Note some content was taken off of Chihuly website.