One of the years most eagerly anticipated exhibitions featuring stunning glass installations by the legendary Dale Chihuly is now on view at the New York Botanical Garden. Chihuly, master of translucent and transparent qualities of glass, neon, and liquid forms, is globally renowned for his incredible career and ambitious site-specific installations in public spaces as well as exhibitions presented in museums and gardens worldwide. This show serves as retrospective of his career, including new pieces as well as some earlier works, utilizing and building on concepts and glass installations that have been enjoyed all over the world.
Over two years in the making – Dale Chihuly worked with the NYBG to create over 20 site specific installations that frame, compliment and work to highlight the gardens glorious foliage with the utmost perfection. The result is colorful, fantastical and jaw dropping beautiful.
We couldn’t wait to tour these incredible installations and see the gorgeous glass craftsmanship in person. The organic installations are a must see for color fanatics, or art addicts of any age.
Here, a photo journal of our visit.
Chihuly: Sapphire Star
Composed of hundreds of spires, the sculpture changes color from a vibrant blue to clear at each tip, giving the piece a specific radiance. When viewed at night, the artwork seems as if it is hovering above the landscape.
Sapphire Star from a distance.
Chihuly: Red Reeds on Logs
Red Reeds on Logs uses wood logs that were collected from the grounds of the NYBG. The bright red reeds stick straight into the logs – and are tall and narrow – in stark contrast to that of the logs beneath.
Chihuly: Koda Study #1 and Koda Study #2
Based upon Chihuly’s site specific installation for Artpark in Lewiston New York in the 70s, Koda Studies is inspired by the unique landscape of the Native Place Garden at the NYBG.
Chihuly: Float Boat
Chihuly: Blue Polyvitro Crystals
Most of Chihuly’s work on display at The New York Botanical Garden is blown glass; however, these enormous crystals were created with a polyurethane resin that was poured into a rubber mold. Layer after layer of resin is added through a rotation process, is hardened, and removed from the mold, resulting in these stunning forms.
Chihuly: White Tower with Fiori
Chihuly: Neon 206
These neon “Tumbleweeds” were shaped by hand, and then placed into glass tubes. Completely stationary and fixed in place – the motion of the neon suggests that they could be “blown” away at any moment.
Chihuly: Glasshouse Fiori
These fantasy plants can be found in the glass house, interspersing the garden and taking on the leaf-like form.
Chihuly: Persian Pond and Fiori
This brightly colored, striking installation of Chihuly’s vision of a fantasy garden, utilizes a special mold that creates a pattern on the surface of the glass.
Chihuly: Macchia Forest
The pieces in Macchia Forest are some of Chihuly’s most colorful explorations. Here he developed a technique to layer colorful layers over a thin layer of white so the colors wouldn’t bleed into each other. This technique was then combined with the fusing of colored glass chips to the outer layers of the vessels. The piece is named for Macchia, meaning “spotted” in Italian.
Chihuly: Scarlet and Yellow Icicle Tower
Chihuly: Sol del Citrón
CHIHULY Garden Exhibition. New York Botanical Garden. 2900 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY. Exhibit on view through October 29th. Tickets and more information HERE.
Tip: When visiting, be sure to upload the FREE NYBG CHIHULY Interactive Guide that delivers information and content to handheld devices based on the user’s location, transforming how visitors are guided through the exhibition and Garden grounds. The NYBG CHIHULY Interactive Guide also allows visitors to share their own photographed images of the sculptures.
