Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass
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About two weeks ago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, invited in a few of the media for a private tour of Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass led by Dale Chihuly. One is immediately struck by this curious artist, who looks a bit like a pirate, not only because he has a big black patch covering one eye, but because he’s short, stout, and bears a crop of unruly hair that stands on end as if it has never seen a comb. His seventy-year-old face bears a grimace, and he swaggers through the exhibit side-to-side in the way one imagines a pirate might, projecting confidence, but also keeping his weight evenly distributed. He’s a contrast to the art he creates—Seussian spheres, cones, cattails, and chandeliers that mix whimsy with the ethereal.
Sebastian Smee, in a recent review in the Boston Globe, referred to the exhibit as “tasteless” and “lacking.” Certainly it’s easy to join the hate bandwagon, criticizing an artist because he has achieved a certain celebrity status … and fortune. Such criticisms were leveled at Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and even Picasso.
However, one shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Chihuly has pushed this medium well beyond imaginable boundaries. When he began blowing glass, a nice goblet was considered “art glass.” Now look at this exhibit. Not only has Chihuly proven the sculptural qualities of glass, but he has shown it can be a compelling installation, creating new perspectives on our environment, if not creating new worlds.
Chihuly has accomplished this in spite of personal obstacles (among them bipolar disorder) that would stop most artists. A car accident in 1976 left him blind in one eye and without depth perception and peripheral vision (ironically caused by glass from the windshield). This could have been the end of his glassmaking career—significantly changing art history. However, friends and fellow glassmakers (including Lino Tagliapietra) stepped in and helped him complete his vision.
Chihuly says, “It’s one thing to make it as a craft, beautiful objects that are functional, but to make it as art, you have to make it as something no one has ever seen before.”
To fully appreciate this, one must see the show, up through August 7.
| Good point. I hadn't tohguht about it quite that way. :) |
| Posted by: Midge On: May 1, 2011 5:02 am |
| you capture the dual nature of this compelling force of an artist and my former teacher |
| Posted by: Craig Stockwell On: Apr 20, 2011 9:55 pm |
