Chihuly at the Salk

San Diego really has more art and culture than you think. Sometimes we have smaller, shorter shows, but we get to see some great art. Thanks, Kim, for alerting us to the Dale Chihuly show at the Salk Institute. What a wonderful morning it was. Dale Chihuly is probably the most famous living glass maker in the United States, if not the world. The wonderful thing about his work is that it is always evolving. He doesn't just have one style and keep repeating himself. He is constantly creating new and wonderful objects, stretching himself and his glass blowers to the limit.

Chihuly was born in 1941, attended the University of Washington, then went to the University of Wisconsin, which had the only glass program in the country at that time. From there it was off to the Rhode Island School of Design, and finally off to Venice, Italy. It was here that he developed a team approch to glass making. Many of his designs are so large they cannot be handled by one person, so he has 2-3 people working on one piece.

Chihuly likes his exhibits in gardens and surrounded by hard structures, so the Salk Institute was the perfect setting. There were some pieces with 1,000 parts to the structure. Everything is disassembled for shipping, then reassembled. The installers have some lee way in the assembly, so no two exhibits of the same piece are exactly the same. Two outdoor chandeliers were created especially for this exhibit, so even if you don't get to the exhibit before it closes, the chandeliers will be on display until August.

Some of his pieces are so large that his Seattle studio cannot accomodate them. He goes to Finland once a year where he rents a very large space in order to produce some of his large pieces. I'm surprised that he doesn't just rent a larger space in Seattle. I guess he likes going to Finland.

My favorite piece was called Float Boat and Floats. Chihuly purcheses old wooden boat hulls, refurbishes them, then fills them with the most gorgeous blown glass balls you can imagine. Some the larger balls weigh up to 60 pounds. Many balls are piled in the boat, others are scattered around the boat, in front and behind.

Another gorgeous piece was The Sun. This is one of his most famous pieces, but this is the first time it has been seen with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. This sculpture had over 1,000 individual pieces fitted into its base. It was truly magnificent.

I urge you to stop by the Salk (you can order tickets on line) before the exhibit closes. It can also be seen at night, which would be a wonderful experience, with lights shining on his work. If you don't get there, remember that the two chandeliers will be on display until August. Don't miss them.