OPENING: “Chihuly at Litvak” kicks off 25-year retrospective in Tel Aviv tonight

Dale Chihuly, Garnet Persian Set with Kohl Lip Wraps, 2001. Hand-blown glass. H 15, W 36, D 25 in.

A major exhibition of Dale Chihuly‘s work debuts this evening at Litvak Gallery in Tel Aviv. The artist has made the trip to Israel to attend the opening of this retrospective show that includes his installations, Seaforms, Persians, Macchia, Jerusalem Cylinders, Venetians, Picollo Venetians, Ikebana and Baskets, as well as drawings, all of which will be displayed in the museum-like setting of this unusual commercial gallery. According to an exhibition essay by Barbara Rose: “His [Chihuly’s] 2010 show at the Litvak Gallery in Tel Aviv is the result of a dialogue with the gallerist, Muly Litvak, which picked up, among other themes, the narrative of Chihuly’s longstanding relationship with Israel.”The essay cites Chihuly’s 1962 stay at a kibbutz as a life-changing event that marked a transition from the frivolity of youth to a developing sense of purpose in life. Rose goes on to draw a parallel to kibbutz life and Chihuly’s working style with teams of assistants helping him to achieve his vision. The essay also discusses Chihuly’s 2000 installation at the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem as another signal event in the artist’s life.

Dale Chihuly, Silvered Jerusalem Cylinder with Sunset Crystals, 2010. Hand-blown glass. H 24, W 22x, D 11 in.

Aside from a handful of 2010 works, most of what will be exhibited spans the last 25 years of Chihuly’s output, and all of his major series are represented. A preview of this exhibition was available at the 2010 SOFA CHICAGO where Litvak Gallery had installed the work in an impressive black-box environment.

Much has been written about Chihuly’s immense contribution to the development of glass as a medium for sculpture and installation at a museum scale, and the commissioned exhibition essay explores the artist’s evolution. In the end, as many critics do, it is the power of Chihuly’s work to entrance viewers with the sheer glory of their chromatic and formal effect. Rose’s essay closes with the observation that Chihuly pays “homage to what the Italian aesthetician Benedetto Croce defined as the goal of art, its “life-enhancing” quality.”

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