Dale Chihuly's Accomplishments

Dale Chihuly, one of the most well-known contemporary glass artists, collaborated with various architects, in order to create powerful and intriguing installations. Chihuly’s goal is to impact as many viewers as possible, through the morphing of shapes. He embraces the permanence of buildings, but tests with the ephemeralness of other subjects. As Chihuly stated, “When you’re working on a building it’s permanent. If forces you to make something in design terms that will withstand the test of time” (Chihuly 2010). Some of his artwork hints his dark past, but nevertheless, it is through the use of vivid colors that he looks to the future. Chihuly was born on September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington. He had a rough couple of years since his

A sequence he started in 1986 was titled the Persian Series, and they were installed in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux-Arts). A total of eight pieces were included in the exhibition, in which four of them were designed specifically for the museum. These fixtures where made-to-measure, fitting the interiors perfectly. At the head of the Hornstein pavilion’s staircase, rested the Turquoise Reeds. It was placed on a wooden framework, and surrounded the staircase. The darkly painted wall behind the piece emphasized the bright turquoise colors of the reeds. Furthermore, the contrast between the sleek vertical glass pieces and the horizontal western red cedar logs hinted a West Coast landscape, bringing warmth to the piece. On top of the Hornstein Pavilion’s staircase, the peristyle colonnade was converted into Chihuly’s Persian Colonnade. These numerous flower pieces were attached to the metallic, white colonnade. The incandescent lighting shimmered the yellows and blues onto the vertical columns. The irregular shapes of the glass flowers juxtaposed the rigid lines, creating an interesting balance. Moving on to the most rousing exhibition room the Persian Ceiling was placed. This installation consisted of hundreds of smaller pieces put together in a kaleidoscope of colors. Light gleamed through the transparent ceiling, illuminating the whole

The piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London was originally named Ice Blue and Spring Green Chandelier. The museum commissioned Dale Chihuly to make a piece of art for the dome area of their main entrance, that would mark the explicit statement which was the museum’s commitment to contemporary art and design. Furthermore, they wanted the chandelier to be ready for their opening exhibition, ‘A Grand Design’. The museum had to go through renovations, enforcing the roof and ordering a new chain for the sculpture to be able to stand. In addition, Chihuly’s piece brought plenty of visitors to the museum, by completely changing the charm of the main entrance. Another chandelier was installed at the Museum’s David Wallace Robinson Jr. The piece was set up on April 9th 2010 in the Museum’s atrium and it was also used as a fund-raiser. It was explicitly designed to enrich the asymmetrical shape of the building. The colors too were chosen to mimic a ‘Carolina Sunset’, where the color-scheme also resembled Columbia’s ‘Famously Hot’ shades. The atrium was bright, compared to Chihuly’s previous installation spaces. All the light seeping through the large windows made the fiery reds, oranges and yellows even more vivid. A triangular extension to the ceiling perfectly framed the chandelier. The fixture was wider at the top and narrows down the lower it gets, which was the