American, b. September 20, 1941
chihuly.com

For more than half a century, Dale Chihuly has devoted his boundless energy and sharp intelligence to the implementation of a singular artistic vision in an ever-expanding array of media. His imagination—and lifelong engagement with color and light—have led him to experiment with materials ranging from textiles to neon, yet he always returns to his signature explorations in glass. His work has evolved from small-scale examinations of the properties of glass in the form of inventive vessels displayed singly and in groups to monumental installations of glass and light that transform their surroundings. Highlighting examples of both intimate and large-scale works, this exhibition lays bare the evolution of his practice over the past fifty years. It also includes a group of early drawings through which Dale worked out his ideas, shapes, and colors.

Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 to George and Viola Chihuly. His father was an organizer for the meat cutters’ union. Dale’s mother was an avid gardener, cook, and homemaker. His father and his only brother died within one year of each other when Dale was only fifteen years old. His close relationship with his mother has had an enduring influence. Dale often describes the opportunity she gave him to decorate the family basement as his first foray into art and design. Due to his mother’s urging, he attended college. His fascination with interiors and architecture led to an undergraduate degree in interior design at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he continued to explore his interest in a wide variety of materials. The skills he gained during that time have stayed with him: Dale’s treatment of space and understanding of how his work will interact with its surroundings, whether a building, a loft, a garden, or a museum, owe much to his early training. In 1961, Dale learned to melt and fuse glass and immediately began to explore unusual applications of the medium, such as incorporating it into weavings (see fig. 1). But it was not until four years later, when he attempted glassblowing for the first time, that he discovered what would be a lifelong passion. Alone in his basement, melting stained glass, he used a metal pipe to blow his first bubble, and he never looked back.

When Dale was a student, nothing resembling a studio glass movement yet existed in the United States. The first glass program for artists was launched at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1962, and Dale enrolled there in 1966 to study glassblowing. The following year, he began his graduate studies at RISD, embarking on a career-long project of experimenting with glass in new environments and in interaction with diverse media. In 1968, as the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, he traveled to Italy, where he studied at the Venini family’s glass studio in Venice, on the island of Murano. He was the first American glassblower ever to apprentice with the famed glass masters, who had long guarded their centuries-old secrets. Throughout his career, Dale has employed many of the techniques he learned in Venice, and the team approach to blowing glass that he first observed there has remained vital to his artistic practice ever since.

Dale’s Garden Cycle, which he began in 2001, has brought his singular vision to the landscapes and conservatories of botanical gardens across the United States. With this series of exhibitions and installations, he has been able to join two of his greatest loves—gardens and glass. Over the past sixteen years, across all seasons, Dale has mounted interventions in gardens of disparate climates, from the leafy Northeast to tropical Florida to the deserts of the Southwest. In 2006, as part of this series, Dale brought his work, including a massive tower of neon and dozens of large-scale works in glass, to NYBG for the first time. As his garden work has evolved, he has continued to push the boundaries between glass and the landscape. In 2012, Dale was able to realize his vision for a long-term indoor-outdoor exhibition - Chihuly Garden and Glass, in Seattle. This project offered Dale the opportunity to work with a team and use his lifetime of experience to design and build interior galleries, exterior garden spaces, and a glasshouse to display a comprehensive body of his work to the public in the center of the urban, cultural core of his hometown.

At eighty-four, Dale Chihuly continues to innovate. Today, he is an enormously accomplished artist who routinely works in paint, glass, plastic, and neon and other materials, which he bends to his own invention. He has received numerous awards, and his art is held in the collections of hundreds of museums worldwide. His goal is always to thrill and excite his audiences with exciting new works and installations. In planning this latest exhibition for The New York Botanical Garden, Dale was inspired by the Garden’s landscape. It is his hope that the results will ignite the imaginations of NYBG visitors, prompting them to view the landscape—and the glass—in a new light.