Dale Chihuly was an undergraduate when, as an experiment, he melted a quantity of glass, and with an improvised pipe, blew his first glass bubble. Captivated by the forms that could be shaped by the human breath, he undertook to master the age-old art of glassblowing, and make it a medium for vital, expressive modern art. In the 1960s, glassblowing was widely classified as a craft, useful for producing glasses, bottles, vases and small decorative objects. A handful of artists contemplated it as a medium for serious art, but their ambitions still centered on the creation of small-scale sculptures. Dale Chihuly changed all that forever. He trained and deployed an army of assistants to create works of unprecedented scale, complexity and expressive power. From his ingeniously conceived "baskets and cylinders" in the 1970s, to his monumental public installations of the 21st century, he revolutionized the field of glass art, pioneering an entirely new form of creative expression. Magical gardens of glass trees and flowers, a tower of glass soaring above the gates of Jerusalem, brilliant chandeliers swinging over the canals of Venice -- Dale Chihuly's creations have thrilled millions around the world. His unique, radiant visions delight the eye and stir the soul.
| ||||||