Top Stories

Maestros and Museums

Maestros and Museums
June 13-19, 2008

San Francisco

Seattle

Chihuly at the  de Young

Chihuly at the  de Young Museum, San Francisco
Exhibition dates: June 14–September 28, 2008
San Francisco, March 2008—The de Young Museum hosts Dale Chihuly’s first major exhibition in San Francisco, June 14 through September 28, 2008.  Chihuly at the de Young includes eleven galleries of new and archival works representing the breadth and scope of the artist’s creative vision over the last four decades.  The de Young Museum is the only venue for this exhibition. "I'm very excited about my upcoming show at the de Young.  It will be the most ambitious show I've created to date," says Chihuly.

A pioneer of the studio glass movement, Chihuly has transformed the form and function of glass, making the Pacific Northwest a vital region in the contemporary art scene.  Chihuly has also contributed to the evolution of public art, creating memorable installations for both architectural and natural settings.  Prior to the opening at the de Young, Chihuly will create installations that take advantage of the spectacular settings and architecture of both the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums. These ambitious installations will offer a preview of Chihuly at the de Young, as they will debut in April and remain throughout the duration of the exhibition.

• Saffron Tower—a 30-foot yellow neon sculpture will be installed in the Pool of Enchantment on the de Young’s east side.  
• Sun—a 15-foot radiant yellow orb will be installed at the Legion of Honor in the exterior Court of Honor.
• Chandelier and Tower—two installations, ceiling-mounted Aquamarine Three-Tiered Chandelier and floor-mounted Sea Blue and Green Tower, will be installed in the Rodin sculpture galleries at the Legion of Honor.

de Young Exhibition
Chihuly at the de Young takes a comprehensive view of the artist’s dramatic, colorful, and textured works that generate instant international recognition.  This exhibition represents all the creative periods of the artist’s career, from drawings to single vessels to architectural installations.  Included in the exhibition:

• Glass Forest #3 recreates one of Chihuly’s earliest installations. Comprised of white milk-glass and neon, the first version of this work was exhibited in New York at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Arts & Design), and has not been viewed in the U.S. since 1972.
• Five Chandeliers will dramatically transform an entire gallery.  Their titles suggest a feast of color and form, characteristic of one of Chihuly’s most celebrated series: Ruby Red, Turquoise Icicle, Orange Hornet and Eelgrass, Chiostro di Sant’ Apollonia, and Palazzo de Loredana Balboni.  
• A 56-foot-long Mille Fiori garden of glass composed of bold forms in vibrant colors provides a powerful conclusion to the exhibition.
• The Tabac Baskets will be displayed in the context of objects that have served as sources of inspiration to the artist.

The Artist
Dale Chihuly is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the studio glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. However, Chihuly's contribution extends well beyond the boundaries both of this movement and even the field of glass: his achievements have influenced contemporary art in general. Chihuly’s practice of using teams has led to the development of complex, multipart sculptures of dramatic beauty that place him in the leadership role of moving blown glass out of the confines of the small, precious object and into the realm of large-scale contemporary sculpture.

Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass

Museum of Glass, Tacoma
February 23 - August 24, 2008
Organized by the Museum of Glass

It is not uncommon for an artist to be touted as “the greatest” or “most significant,” but in the case of Lino Tagliapietra, the pronouncements happen to be true. Tagliapietra left school at around age eleven to work full time in the glassmaking industry in the glass center of Murano, an island in the Venetian lagoon. This child, who developed into the world’s greatest living glassblower (and arguably one of the greatest in the history of glassmaking), also proved to be a superb artist and educator. In the process, the course of glass art was changed.

By 1978, American Studio Glassmaking had reached a crossroads. The excitement and experimentation of the late 1960s and first half of the 1970s were no longer sufficient to drive the field forward. Glassmakers were hungry for greater technical knowledge and one-by-one made their way to Europe seeking knowledge. Experience gained at the Glassmaking School in Orrefors, Sweden, and the Venini Glassworks in Venice was critical, but the information brought back to the U.S. by such artists as James Carpenter, Dale Chihuly, Dan Dailey, and Benjamin Moore was secondhand. What they learned was filtered through their foreign and less-experienced eyes and hands.

Moore, however, had the insight to spearhead a drive to bring the first real Muranese glassmaking maestro (master), Checco Ongaro, to the young Pilchuck Glass School north of Seattle. Ongaro spent two weeks in 1978 demonstrating classic Italian glassworking techniques, but he was uncomfortable in sharing even some of the knowledge that had been proprietary for centuries. Although invited to return to teach the next year, Ongaro refused. In his place came his brother-in-law, Lino Tagliapietra, an equally accomplished craftsman who knew that if glassmaking at its highest level was to survive, it must expand beyond the declining industry in Murano.

At age 45, Tagliapietra (who did not speak a word of English) stepped onto an airplane for the first time and made the trip to Seattle. That first stay at Pilchuck, during the summer of 1979, would have repercussions for years to come that extended far beyond the Pacific Northwest. Tagliapietra unhesitatingly shared what he knew with artists in the United States, then all over the world. Through his 28 years of teaching and his example—the passionate love of the craft, disciplined work ethic, and demand for perfection—the craft of glassmaking was dramatically elevated worldwide.

Defying criticism from the community back home, Tagliapietra never stopped sharing his knowledge. But the giving was not a one-way street: Tagliapietra benefited equally from the young Americans and other foreigners that he taught and with whom he collaborated. After years of factory production work, Tagliapietra came face-to-face with new ways of regarding the material and with individuals who considered it a medium for art. They were blowing glass for the sheer joy and challenge of it.

There has never been a retrospective look at Lino Tagliapietra’s art and career in its entirety. This exhibition represents not only pivotal and renowned series of artistic work covering a period of approximately thirty years, but also designs made for industry and private objects that have never been exhibited.

- Back to Top Stories -