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Current Exhibitions Future Exhibitions Back to Exhibitions ) |
 Dale Chihuly: Baskets November 29, 2001–February 10, 2002  Cobalt Macchia Basket set with Red Lip Wraps, by Dale Chihuly. Dimensions: 8 x 22 x 19 inches. © 1993 Dale Chihuly. Photos: Terry Rishel and Claire Garoutte An exhibition featuring the work of internationally renowned artist Dale Chihuly went on display Thursday, November 29, 2001 at the Tyler Museum of Art. Chihuly Baskets was a series of hand-blown glass Baskets that drew their inspiration from Native American woven baskets. The exhibit included 44 glass baskets, 38 Native American baskets from Chihuly's personal collection, and eight drawings. The exhibition was on display in the Museum's Bell and North Galleries through February 10, 2002. Dale Chihuly (pronounced chi-HOO-ly) was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, he enrolled in Harvey Littleton's seminal glass program at the University of Wisconsin. Chihuly continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he later established the glass department and subsequently headed the sculpture department. In 1968, Chihuly was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work at the illustrious Venini factory in Venice, Italy. While in Venice, Chihuly observed the Italians' team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to his studio today. Chihuly Baskets was inspired by a visit the artist made to the Washington Historical Society. Chihuly was struck by how the Northwest Coast Indian baskets on display sagged under their own weight, much as molten glass does when being blown. "I was struck by the grace of their slumped, sagging forms. I wanted to capture this in glass. The breakthrough for me was recognizing that heat and gravity were the tools to be used to make these forms." Chihuly allowed the glassblowing process to recreate the lyrical asymmetry of the misshapen woven baskets. The baskets that he saw in Tacoma were stacked inside each other in order to save space in the storeroom. Chihuly created his Baskets the same way, nesting pieces to form a coherent whole. The first Basket colors were earthen tones, as well as red-orange and black. Later he branched out into a rich rainbow of colors. From the man who says "I never met a color I didn't like" comes a display of baskets in colors including paprika, larkspur blue, orange ochre, Pilchuck red, cobalt, and persimmon. During his 30-year career, Chihuly has reinvented and revitalized the art of glass blowing. While glass blowing has long been considered a craft rather than art, Chihuly's unique interpretations of Baskets as well as Seaforms, icicles, flowers and other themes have passed the threshold into art. He has gone well beyond the goal of achieving technical perfection into the realm of creating expressively powerful objects. Although Chihuly is a master glass blower, he no longer blows his own designs. That ended in 1976, when he lost his sight in one eye. Instead he creates dynamic, two-dimensional drawings of his artistic vision and supervises every step in a large studio that is run like an old world artist's workshop. In Venice in 1968, Chihuly observed a central concept that would revolutionize the new American glass movement: teamwork. With natural grace the glassblower became the glass master, bringing forth a larger team capable of more complex work and a broader focus. Dale Chihuly's work is included in over one hundred eighty museum collections on five continents. In 1995 he embarked on the multi-faceted international project Chihuly over Venice, which involved collaborative glass blowing at factories in Finland, Ireland, and Mexico with the resultant sculptures mounted over the canals and piazze of Venice as part of that city's first glass biennial. This installation was documented by PBS in a 90-minute special. His recent architectural works include sculptures for the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In 1999, Chihuly mounted his most ambitious exhibition to date: Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000. His team used 10,000 pieces of multicolored, multidimensional glass to erect 15 major installations in and around the ancient fortress of the Tower of David Museum inside the old city walls of Jerusalem. Over one million visitors viewed this exhibition, breaking the world attendance record for an exhibition during 1999-2000. Chihuly culminated the year by designing two sculptures for the White House Millennium Celebration. |