Dale Chihuly

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Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly
Birth name Dale Patrick Chihuly
Born September 20, 1941 (1941-09-20) (age 68)
Tacoma, Washington
Nationality American
Field Glass sculptor
Training University of Wisconsin–Madison, Rhode Island School of Design.

Dale Chihuly (b. September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, United States) is a Slovak American glass sculptor and entrepreneur.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Chihuly graduated from high school in Tacoma. Supported by his mother, after his brother George's death in a flight-training accident in Florida and his father's death of a heart attack, he enrolled at the College of the Puget Sound in 1959. A year later, he transferred to the University of Washington at Seattle, where in 1965 he received a bachelor of arts degree in interior design.[1]

In 1967, he received a Master of Science in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin–Madison[1], where he studied under Harvey Littleton. In 1968, he studied glass in Venice on a Fulbright Fellowship and received a Master of Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design.[1] In 1971, with the support of John Hauberg and Anne Gould Hauberg, Chihuly founded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington.[2]

In 1976, while Chihuly was in England, he was involved in a head-on automobile accident during which he flew through the windshield.[1][3] His face was severely cut by glass and he was blinded in his left eye. After recovering, he continued to blow glass until he dislocated his shoulder in a 1979 bodysurfing accident.[3] No longer able to hold the glass blowing pipe, he hired others to do the work; Chihuly explained the change in a 2006 interview, saying "Once I stepped back, I liked the view" and pointing out that it allowed him to see the work from more perspectives and enabled him to anticipate problems faster.[1] Chihuly describes his role as "more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor."[1]

Chihuly and his team of artists were the subjects of the documentary Chihuly Over Venice; the program was the first HDTV program to be broadcast in the United States when it aired in November 1998.[citation needed] They were also featured in the documentary Chihuly in the Hotshop, syndicated to public television stations by American Public Television starting in November 1, 2008.[4]

[edit] About his work

Crystal Towers on the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, Tacoma, Washington.

Regina Hackett, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer art critic, provided a chronology of his work during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s:[1]

  • 1975: Navajo Blanket Series, in which patterns of Navajo blankets were painted onto glass
  • 1977: Northwest Coast Basket Series, baskets inspired by Northwest coast Indian baskets he'd seen as a child
  • 1980: Seaform Series, transparent sculptures of thin glass, strengthened by ribbed strands of color
  • 1981: Macchia Series, featuring every color available in the studio
  • 1986: Persian Series, inspired by Middle East glass from the 12th- to 14th-century, featuring more restrained color and room-sized installations
  • 1988: Venetian Series, improvisations based on Italian Art Deco
  • 1989: Ikebana Series, glass flower arrangements inspired by Ikebana
  • 1990: Venetian Series returns, this time in a more eccentric form
  • 1991: Niijima Floats, six-foot spheres of intricate color inspired by Japanese fishing floats from the island of Niijima[5]
  • 1992: Chandeliers, starting modestly but by the middle of the decade involving a ton of glass orbs and shapes that in some works look like flowers, others like breasts, and still others like snakes

Chihuly has also produced a sizable volume of "Irish cylinders"[6], which are more modest in conception than his blown glass works.

[edit] Galleries

Chihuly maintains two retail stores in partnership with MGM Mirage. One is located at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip,[7] the other at the MGM Grand Casino in Macau.[8] A number of other galleries also carry his pieces.

[edit] 2006 lawsuit

In 2006, Chihuly filed a lawsuit against a pair of glassblowers, including Robert Kaindl, whom he accused of copying his work. Chihuly was unsuccessful: the Glassblower Federation argued that Chihuly's designs feature basic shapes; therefore any novice would be able to create the spiral glass which is featured in many of Chihuly's compositions.[9][10] The lawsuit was settled out of court.[11]

[edit] Permanent collections

[edit] United States

In 2000, Chihuly's commission from the Victoria and Albert Museum for a 30 ft (9.1 m) high, blown glass chandelier dominates the museum's main entrance.
Close-up of Chihuly glass sculpture at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
Reeds, De Young Museum, San Francisco, 2008.


[edit] Canada

[edit] England

[edit] United Arab Emirates

Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

[edit] Exhibitions

[edit] Chihuly Gallery

Chihuly's The Sun was on temporary display until January 2006 at Kew Gardens, London, England. The piece is 13 feet (4 m) high

Dale Chihuly glass art at the exhibition of his work in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2005

Missouri Botanical Garden installation (two spheres)

At the Tower of David

Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, 2009

Chihuly at the Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, 2007

[edit] Bibliography

  • Chihuly Over Venice by William Warmus and Dana Self. Seattle: Portland Press, 1996.
  • Chihuly by Donald Kuspit. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998.
  • The Essential Dale Chihuly by William Warmus. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.
  • Dale Chihuly:365 Days. Margaret L. Kaplan, Editor. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008.

in 1993

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Chihuly victimized by his own success?, an April 17, 2006 article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  2. ^ About the Pilchuck Glass School from their website
  3. ^ a b Glass Houses: Dale Chihuly Files a Lawsuit That Raises Big Questions... About Dale Chihuly, a February 2006 article from The Stranger
  4. ^ Chihuly Over Venice from Chihuly's Portland Press website
  5. ^ Niijima from Chihuly's website
  6. ^ photo from lakeview-museum.org
  7. ^ List of stores from the Bellagio hotel/casino website
  8. ^ Press release by MGM Macau mentioning Chihuly shop (search for "Chihuly retail")
  9. ^ Glass warfare from the website of the St. Petersburg Times
  10. ^ The Seattle Times: Local News: Glass artist Chihuly's lawsuit tests limits of copyrighting art, a 2005 article from The Seattle Times;
  11. ^ Chihuly, rival glass artist settle dispute a 2006 article from The Seattle Times
  12. ^ San Jose Museum of Art | Sculptures
  13. ^ Chihuly at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
  14. ^ Delaware Art Museum
  15. ^ The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
  16. ^ http://www.wichitaartmuseum.org/exp2k3.html
  17. ^ artsmia.org : viewer
  18. ^ Dale Chihuly
  19. ^ Chihuly - Borgata Hotel + Casino, Atlantic City
  20. ^ http://www.fpconservatory.org/chihuly.htm
  21. ^ http://www.slco.org/fi/slcoart/art/Chihuly-Dale/Tower.html
  22. ^ Chihuly at the Frank Russel Bldg
  23. ^ Chihuly City Centre Installation
  24. ^ Chihuly Washington State Convention Center Installation
  25. ^ Chihuly - Union Station
  26. ^ Dale Chihuly
  27. ^ Chihuly - Icicle Creek
  28. ^ Chihuly - The News Tribune
  29. ^ Chihuly
  30. ^ Chihuly - Hilton Lac-Leamy, Hull, Quebec
  31. ^ Dale Chihuly
  32. ^ Chihuly at the V&A
  33. ^ [1]

[edit] External links

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