Over the last two years, I have been a part of the Jasper
Humanities program, a joint taught class covering both English and World
History course material. One of the unique things about Humanities is that,
because it’s a two year class, we have time to further delve into the arts and
literature, the class’s namesake. The class truly opened my eyes to the world
of art and culture. In addition to simply learning about art, the Humanities
program has increased my awareness of local art exhibits. That’s how we learned
about the Chihuly glass sculpture exhibit.
Last Saturday, I went with my family to see Dale Chihuly’s
glass sculptures at the Dallas Arboretum. Dale Chihuly is an American sculptor
known for his innovative uses of glass to shape and form fantastic glass
sculptures. In some cases, he even mixes uranium with the glass to give it a
glow and shine. From completely round spheres to curled horns and shafts of
glass, Chihuly uses tens to hundreds of pieces of glass in each of his pieces. The
organic arrangement of Chihuly’s sculptures among the various plant species at
the arboretum provided a truly exceptional “art gallery” to walk around in the
arboretum.
There were over 20 pieces of Chihuly’s artwork creatively
placed around the gardens, some placed in pools, others mounted in the air,
while more were set in the flowers and shrubs, extending up and outwards. All
of his works were breath-taking and awe-inspiring, from his 1800 piece, 32 feet
tall Yellow Icicle Tower to the uranium mixed Mirrored Hornets and the glowing blue
and white Dallas Star. Even his most austere and simplistic pieces, reeds of
various colored glass, were set in such a backdrop that they too proved to be
quite aesthetically pleasing.
My favorite piece at the exhibit was the Niijima Floats, set
in one of the pools in the arboretum. The piece itself is fairly simplistic,
with assorted glass shapes mounted in floats resembling those of Japanese
fisherman. The simple glass spheres and elongated pieces of glass are arranged
creatively in the boats, with some spheres floating in the water around the
boats. The genius of this piece at the arboretum, I think, is in its location.
Set in an infinity pool like location in the arboretum, the boats look
strikingly beautiful with a rippled reflection, and when seen from ground
level, provide a truly picture perfect scene, which is easier shown than
explained.
The Chihuly art exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum is open
until November 5th, so there’s still time to go and see these
marvelous pieces of art!
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