From delicate fronds to giant installations, from monochrome to maximal colour, through every shape and form that's never been thought of, Dale Chihuly's work has graced everything from urban jungles to wild forests. In the face of something so spine-tingling, amazing, truly luscious, indulgent and inventive, then Chihuly's maximalism has to win over modern minimalism any day. He is the world's most spectacular glass artist.
The breadth and profileration of Chihuly's work is eye-popping. His sculptures have mingled with nature in gardens from Florida to Kew, stood upright in forests, floated in water, been piled onto little boats. They are as charming as they are wild.
Born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941, he learned some of his art with the Venetian glassblowers on the little island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon. It is less widely known that he originally trained as an interior designer. The relationship that his designs have with buildings is an intriguing one, shown in these photos of some of his interior works. The ceiling at the Tacoma museum juxtaposes his maximal art with a minimalist framework. The Hall of Chihuly is somewhere between an interior and an installation. None of his work is very far from fantasy.
There is an exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work currently running at the Halcyon Gallery, London.
There is an exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work currently running at the Halcyon Gallery, London.
1 Sea-form ceiling at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, photo by gohomekiki
1 Sea-form ceiling at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, photo by 2 Hall of Chiluly at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, photo by Ed Schipul
3 Glass ceiling on the bridge to the history museum at Tacoma, Washington, photo by Greg Gamble
All from Flickr under CC BY license
