The art of Dale Chihuly - Glass Art

The art of glass blowing has been around since the times of the Phoenicians in the B.C. era. Glass blowers and makers alike have long kept their skills a secret. This solitude would last thousands of years and the glass was worth a lot due to it's rarity. Since glass workers worked by themselves, they hardly produced a lot of work and hence why the work would be expensive. A modern day artist out of Tacoma, Washington would change these ways of the glass blowers for generations to come.

Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington on September 20, 1941. He had tragic early life loosing his father to a heart attack and his brother in a flight training accident. With his mother by his side he graduated from high school and eventually attended College of the Puget Sound. After one year he transferred to the University of Washington where there he would join the glass making movement founded by Harvey Littleton. He would then go on to achieve a bachelor of arts degree in interior design and a Master of science in sculpture. An automobile accident in in England in 1976 threw Dale Chihuly through the windshield severely injuring his face. He has since wore a patch over his left eye.

What Dale Chihuly did that he's most known for is not even the art itself. It was the process that it took to make the art. Most glass blowers would keep to themselves but Dale Chihuly incorporated team work into the fraction hence producing more pieces faster. Also the level of sizes Chihuly's art is amazing. Structures stories high. Dale Chihuly's art is all over the world. He is the father of glass blowing and is credited with bringing glass blowing into the arts.

I personally love Dale Chihuly's pieces. I see a lot of articles and blogs that take away from what he's achieved. People are saying that his art is too vastly produced to be considered art. Anyone who follows art knows that his pieces are everywhere contemporary art is. I ask of those who know about Chihuly or just in general, "How do you feel about massed produced art"? Should it be an art at all? The fact that Dale Chihuly is mostly known for combining teams of people to create art at a consistent rate is why art critics wish to devalue his works and legacy.

Here are Dale Chihuly's exhibits schedules for 2012.

Current

Illuminations: Rediscovering the Art of Dale Chihuly

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma
December 31, 2011 - April 8, 2012

Chihuly: Northwest

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma
December 31, 2011 - April 8, 2012

Chihuly Venetians: From the George R. Stroemple Collection

Fort Collins Museum of Art, Fort Collins, Colorado
December 14, 2011 - March 18, 2012

Chihuly at CityCenter

The Gallery, CityCenter, Las Vegas, Nevada
December 4, 2009 - extended through 2012

Chihuly@ Halcyon Gallery, London, UK

December 5, 2011 - March 31, 2012

Upcoming

Chihuly at Dallas Arboretum

Dallas Arboretum, Dallas, Texas
May 5 - November 5, 2012

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Seattle, Washington
Opens Spring 2012