DALE CHIHULY AT L.A. LOUVER

By Tobey Crockett (brief article), ART IN AMERICA

Dale Chihuly’s stunning installation of large-scale sculptural works at L.A. Louver showed how simplicity can triumph in the hands of a master. Chihuly amassed hundreds of simple hand-blown units of various organic shapes into protean configurations of breathtaking beauty, mystery and even majesty. The virtuosity with which he and his production team manipulate glass and use its ability to capture and recast light demonstrates concentration, vision and artistry.

The newly configured nautilus shell of the gallery entry led the viewer into a treasure trove of jewel-toned shadows and reflections cast by the Pergola Ceiling Installation above. On a glass platform through which light filtered in a sumptuous array of prismatic hues, a wide variety of single glass pieces lay upon one another like artifacts scattered across the ocean floor. This coiling sea garden was filled with colorful shapes, whirling flamenco skirts, vases, cherub heads, tentacles and all manner of shell forms, which recurred throughout the exhibition.

Four enormous works dominated the theatrically lit main gallery in a suite of red, yellow, blue and white. Chihuly, with his acute sense of color and volume, realizes abstract Color Field practices in these extraordinary light-reflecting assemblages. Silver Chandelier, a giant cornucopia of clear glass shot through with aspirated gold and silver leaf, hung in suspended animation, casting exotic shadows onto the floor from its plethora of curlicues, spiraling leaf forms and exoskeletal extrusions flowing outward like flash-frozen sea foam.

Anchored to the far wall and nearly carnivorous in its sexuality, the massive Sun Installation exploded outward, a red supernova 14 feet in diameter made of hundreds of snaking lava tongues of red and scarlet glass and studded with bits of orange and yellow. Persian Wall Installation spread more than 28 feet across two walls and a corner, its blue whirling dervishes of radiating stripes captured in giant platelike structures which simultaneously recall Monet’s water lilies, manta rays and mandalas.

The small gallery had a selection of smaller “basket” works, influenced by Native American basketry and evoking Chihuly’s Northwest heritage and remarkably similar to microbiological forms. Layers of glass filtered light as by osmosis, in delicate shades of coral, pink and deeper reds. Upstairs in the outdoor garden, a blue and white Glacier Blue Tower, a tentacled column of pelagic vegetable forms, reached to the sky and blended with the elements. Chihuly’s achievement in these works is not just generating great visual pleasure but transforming glass into a monumental material capable of withstanding even the physical demands of outdoor exposure and creating tremendous sculptural presence.

Copyright 1999 Brant Publications, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Gale Group