Past Exhibitions
Dale Chihuly: Installations
Over the past two decades, internationally acclaimed artist Dale Chihuly has created stunning visions in glass of unsurpassed scale, complexity and brilliance, revolutionizing the field. Phoenix Art Museum is proud to present the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of his work to come to Phoenix.
Installations of Chihuly’s work have been exhibited all over the world, yet each show is unique - a reflection of its environment and the fact that many works are comprised of multiple pieces of glass that are never assembled in exactly the same way. Before designing the show for Phoenix Art Museum, Chihuly visited the Museum and responded to its pure and sweeping spaces designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. The result is an exhibition of his work that is experiential and breathtaking. With over 60 works, Dale Chihuly: Installations at Phoenix Art Museum includes many of Chihuly’s most beloved series, including Baskets, Macchias, Ikebanas, Persians, Seaforms, Niijima Floats, Reeds, and Towers, as well as rarely seen Jerusalem Cylinders and the never before exhibited Mexican Hat Sconce.
The exhibition’s design at Phoenix Art Museum can be described in musical terms - a mix of quiet, smaller works and brash crescendos of baroque, dramatic pieces, creating a sense of drama as the viewer moves through the show. From a spectacular Chandelier, the visitor encounters a forest of multi-colored Macchias, a series that takes its name from the Italian word for "spotted." Revealed as the visitor moves through the exhibition are such works as the Italianate Ducale Tower with Putti, the spare Jerusalem Cylinders, a Persian wall composed of large circular roundels with rippled edges, exquisite Ikebanas reflecting the Japanese art of flower arranging, and the playful Niijima Floats, inspired by floats from fishing nets. Mexican Hat Sconce makes its debut at Phoenix Art Museum. Leading to the show’s finale is the Persian Seaform Ceiling, an enclosed hallway with dozens of varied glass forms that hover over the viewer with brilliant color and shadow.
Also featured in Dale Chihuly: Installations are three Drawing Walls, mural-like grids of his colorful and energetic drawings.
The exhibition is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and Chihuly Studio. Support has been provided by Merrill Lynch, Men’s Arts Council, Barbara Turner Hitchcock, Susan and Mark Mulzet and the Museum’s Connoisseur’s Circle. Promotional Support is provided by KPNX-TV Channel 12, The Arizona Republic, Dillard’s, Phoenix Magazine, KJZZ/KBAQ and azcentral.com.
Left: Phoenix Art Museum installation: Persian Seaform Ceiling, Dale Chihuly, 2001. Photo: Craig Smith. © 2002 Dale Chihuly. Right: Macchia Forest, Dale Chihuly, 1994. Blown glass. Collection of the artist. Photo: Scott Hagar. © 1994 Dale Chihuly.