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Well worth a visit if his exhibition comes to a town near you .
I went to the exhibition in Montreal yesterday and I cant remember the last time i said WOW so often. https://www.google.ca/search?safe=ac...06.hg9vtxQtU8c
He's amazing, love his work. Saw his exhibit at SAMA about six years ago. Then was able to see his work displayed on the bridge walkway to the glass museum in Tacoma.
I saw his work at the Chihuly Museum in Seattle last year. It's a wonderful place to visit. Some of his works were outside. They were trees and flowers.
I also saw his work at the Bellagio in Las Vegas several years ago.
The man is amazing. he re-defined what can be done with glass, and his works often weigh upwards of 100 lbs., even though they look almost weightless.
His art cost him an eye years ago, and he's now old enough that he's not always able to work the blowpipe, but he attracts the very best glassblowers we have to help him always. Producing his work is like powerlifting with molten objects, and his failure rate is high, but his works are always worth it all, both for those who help and those who love it's magnificence.
And, best of all, glass is an eternal medium. If it is not broken, it will remain as it was when new for 1000 years or more.
They even have a Chihuly installation hanging from the ceiling in the Rochester Mayo Clinic. I hope it stays there when they remodel, which is being planned right now.
I had thought about trying to imitate the hanging displays with balloons for a childrens art class.
One of the moms even knew how to do balloon animals and such but she had such a hatred for Chihuly that she wouldn't participate. What a shame. I thought it would be such a fun way to teach kids to appreciate the art.
I had thought about trying to imitate the hanging displays with balloons for a childrens art class.
One of the moms even knew how to do balloon animals and such but she had such a hatred for Chihuly that she wouldn't participate. What a shame. I thought it would be such a fun way to teach kids to appreciate the art.
Why did she hate him, I wonder? Did she know him personally? An ex-wife/MIL perhaps?
A few years back I saw his exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens. So impressive. Would have been awesome to see it a night with the lights on. Really cool artist.
Why did she hate him, I wonder? Did she know him personally? An ex-wife/MIL perhaps?
A balloon twister is nothing at all the same as a glass blower. The only similarity is both are working in a transparent 3D medium.
Who knows? There was a time when glass blowing was a lot like balloons- both were always round and both were stretched, bent and twisted. Chihuly took glass blowing into a completely different direction. He made glass completely sculptural, once territory that was reserved only for metal, and he did it in a totally abstract manner. His works may remind a viewer of many organic things, but it never resembles any of those things.
For sure, it's territory that a balloon artist can never approach now, and will never be able to approach until balloons reach the permanence of fine art and are treated and considered as fine art.
Look at those pieces from the Mayo clinic. How in the word did Chihuly ever devise a way for them to stay intact while they cooled down? They were all once around 3000 degrees! Each one weighs well over 100 pounds!
The guy has an ego. He earned it. Maybe that was the lady's problem.
His work is just as visually challenging as any abstractionist's, and done in a medium that is much more physically challenging. Glass blowing is truly a combination of very ancient and very modern technology working side by side in equal tandem.
It's the same challenge abstraction brought to painters, photographers and sculptors 100 years ago. old technology made it easy for early abstractionists, but glass needed a higher level of glass technology, both in the material and how it was manipulated, before it could catch up to the others.
Chihuly's work depends a lot on glass that didn't exist as far back as the 1980's. That's a wink of an eye compared to oil paint, which hasn't changed very much since it's perfection almost 200 years ago.
His work also depends on modern kilns designed to handle exotic glass mixtures, advanced gas mixtures, modern technology used in ancient blowpipe designs, and lots of other stuff that has never existed for very long. He is a pioneer. In decades to come, he will be like Picasso, a revolutionary old/new master who will never be surpassed in his own thing, but will be surpassed in his material's abilities of new usage.
Last edited by banjomike; 09-11-2013 at 12:51 AM..
Why did she hate him, I wonder? Did she know him personally? An ex-wife/MIL perhaps?
Quote:
Originally Posted by banjomike
Chihuly took glass blowing into a completely different direction. He made glass completely sculptural, once territory that was reserved only for metal, and he did it in a totally abstract manner. His works may remind a viewer of many organic things, but it never resembles any of those things.
Look at those pieces from the Mayo clinic. How in the word did Chihuly ever devise a way for them to stay intact while they cooled down? They were all once around 3000 degrees! Each one weighs well over 100 pounds!
The guy has an ego. He earned it. Maybe that was the lady's problem.
He was a pioneer working with glass and this type of glass work was something completely
outside the norm for glass. As time passed, he (as many famous artists do) had a group
of glass makers who followed his instructions and designs who now make these sculptures
of glass. That may be one reason why some dislike him since he has a crew that does
the pieces instead of the artist (the assembly line approach).
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