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27/5/2005

Gardens of Glass

Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Richmond

Chihuly at Kew

It is the first exhibition of its kind to be held in Europe. A spectacular sequence of organically shaped and vibrantly coloured glass sculptures will be set throughout Kew’s 300-acre garden landscape and inside the great glasshouses. The exhibition has been specifically designed to respond to Kew’s living collections, landscape, architecture and vistas and the visitor’s experience of the work will alter dramatically from day to night and from season to season.

Dale Chihuly is a leading figure of contemporary glass and has exhibited extensively in the United States and internationally, from Venice to Jerusalem, Iceland to Japan. Gardens of Glass, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, will include Chihuly’s newest series of work, Fiori, which has never been exhibited in Europe. The exhibition will also include some of Chihuly’s best-loved series of work, including Macchia, Ikebana and Chandeliers.

Professor Sir Peter Crane, Director of Kew: ‘Dale Chihuly creates glass sculpture on an unrivalled scale – a scale to match the majestic environment of Kew. Wherever Chihuly and his team work they create a fantastic sense of excitement. Gardens of Glass will be the unmissable exhibition of 2005 and we are thrilled to host it.’

The Sun at Kew Gardens can currently be seen at the north end of the Princess of Wales Conservatory. An advance piece to the main exhibition, The Sun reflects the vibrant colours and monumental scale of the work to come. Standing at over four metres high and four metres wide and weighing a total of 4,600 pounds, it is made up of hundreds of pieces of hand-blown glass.

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DALE CHIHULY
Biography

Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for over a decade.

In 1968, Chihuly was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work at the Venini factory in Venice, Italy. While in Venice, Chihuly observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly co-founded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avantgarde in the development of glass as a fine art.

His work is included in over two hundred museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including seven honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Chihuly has created many well-known series of works, among them the Baskets, Persians, and Seaforms, but he is also celebrated for large architectural installations. In 1995, he embarked on the international project, Chihuly Over Venice, which involved working in glass factories in Finland, Ireland, and Mexico, with the resultant sculptures installed over the canals and piazze of Venice.

In 1999, Chihuly mounted his most ambitious installation to date, Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem; more than one million visitors attended the Tower of David Museum to view his installations. In 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London curated the exhibition Chihuly at the V&A. He exhibited at the Salt Lake Art Center during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. His first major glasshouse exhibition, Chihuly in the Park: A Garden of Glass, was displayed at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. The Chihuly Bridge of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, was dedicated in 2002.

Image: Walla Wallas, 2004, Photo by Terry Rishel

Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 3AB

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