Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
While Jonathan is off gallivanting around in France for a few weeks, he’s left us guest bloggers to do the majority of postings here at the Turley blog. While I’ve remained stateside, I did have an opportunity earlier today to travel to a beautiful otherworld–one created in the imagination of glass artist Dale Chihuly. Chihuly’s “Through the Looking Glass” exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is breathtaking! Fortunately, I was able to take pictures without a flash. Maybe you’d like to come along on a tour of his glass art exhibit.
Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass
Dale Chihuly @ MFA
CBS Early Show: Erica Hill Takes a Lesson in Glass Blowing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TolHuumh7w
Dale Chihuly
Oh, Frank, that’s cold………………but, lordy, it would indeed be funny to watch.
I saw his exhibit at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center…It was Amazing!
If I was part of the crew I’d probably sneak in some glass from home & drop it while everyone was working. It would be interesting to see the reactions 😀
HenMan,
I think it took around three weeks to assemble the exhibits. I wouldn’t want to be one of the people helping with a task like that–klutz that I am.
Frank,
Chihuly doesn’t blow glass any longer. He had an accident and lost his peripheral vision and vision in one eye some years ago. I believe he has about one hundred blowers who work with him. I guess one could compare it to the apprentices who worked with the great artists of the past.
I’m between Rich & Lotta on this one. The earlier stuff seemed to be more individual and thought out while the later stuff does seem more repetitive and mass produced. Maybe I’m jaded, maybe the work has just been handed over to less inventive craftsmen under the boss’s watch.
Its still a wonder to see. The Minneapolis Art Museum has a massive chandelier they did in the lobby and it changes with the light and viewing angle.
Elaine M.,
You have exposed me to something that I was unaware of…Thank you..
HenMan,
You are correct. I would be so afraid of dropping one of these creations!
…and the ability to not drop anything!
Elaine-
I have seen several pieces of Chihuly’s work at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the thought that always comes to mind is “what an amazing combination- the mental ability to conceive these marvelous designs and the mechanical ability to bring them to reality”.
Very nice!
“Blouise
1, July 27, 2011 at 7:00 pm
The above was to Elaine … I talk to myself all the time … this is the first time I wrote to myself”
:=)
This exhibit was set up at Cheekwood in Nashville as an outdoor installation for several weeks. It was especially stunning at night among the trees and stream. It was a huge hit.
Chihuly’s work is a lot less interesting than it was 20-30 years ago. “(Rich)
LOL, Honey, nothing is quite what it was 30 years ago, my thighs are a constant reminder of that 🙂 Chihuly isn’t the shiny new thing he was 30 years ago, Chihuly-like small, nested work work seems to be a style many glassworkers explore at some point in their career and that is a homage that speaks well of his influence.
His work for me is beautiful and valuable because it ushered in a large-format, sculptural vernacular that was unprecedented at the time while still being very refined and elegant. No one worked at that scale or staged their work like he did or does. I will forever be in his debt for making me so happy to have eyes when I saw his work in person.
Nice to look at on a hot day in Dallas, Elaine. Chihuly did a window at the Dallas Museum of Art. By the time my children marry and have children, I will be too old to do anything. My daughter will be in Boston next week interviewing, and I hope she gets some cool weather.
Mike A.,
It sounds like Blouise, you, and I are in the early stages of a brain deficit disorder known as CRS–Can’t Remember Sh*t.
😉
Beautiful work.
Blouise:
That’s a sign of something, but I don’t remember what it is.
Elaine:
I found I had enough energy to handle my newborn grandson. But he is now almost 3 years old and his last visit two weeks ago left me completely whipped.
The above was to Elaine … I talk to myself all the time … this is the first time I wrote to myself
Blouise,
I took care of all three of my grandchildren under that agreement. This last one, and I guess she is the last one, was with me four days a week for the first year and a half and now we are down to two days a week with a niece coming to her home two days a week and the other grandma doing 1 day a week. We keep it in the family and out of daycare.
You will love it and you will form a strong bond with her … the stamina … well, sleep when she sleeps … seriously …and, use grandpa as much as possible 🙂