Chihuly at Sandra Ainsley Gallery 2016

CHIHULY AT SAN DRA A INSLE Y G AL L ERY 20 1 6 / SEPTEMBER 10–NOVEMBER 12, 2016

Rotolo 92, 2015, 38 x 16 x 14"

RETOUCHING NEEDED

CHIHULY AT SAN DRA A INSLE Y G AL L ERY 20 1 6 / SEPTEMBER 10–NOVEMBER 12, 2016

WORKING ON MY NEW SERIES, ROTOLO, REKINDLED MY EXCITEMENT FOR WORKING WITH CLEAR GLASS. I WAS REALLY AMAZED

BY THE COMPLEXITY AND BRILLIANCE OF THE FORM, WHICH STARTED FROM A SIMPLE COIL. –DALE CHIHULY

Dale Chihuly has forever changed our relationship to glass. He has elevated the medium into a spectacular form, one that is unique in its ability to be both critically acclaimed and popular. Chihuly has transformed the potential of our most basic elements—fire, sand, and air—into a dazzling spectacle of pure human spirit.

I am thrilled to have been a witness to this remarkable journey. Dale and I met in 1988 during a chance encounter, which has since transpired into a relationship lasting almost thirty years. A relationship, I’m proud to say, that has altered the landscape of contemporary glass in Canada.

Chihuly has been a part of every major milestone in my gallery’s history: from the Exchange Tower Installation Exhibit, which coincided with his iconic Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem exhibition at the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem, to the Distillery District launch that broke attendance records as the biggest commercial-art opening in Toronto’s history.

So it is with delight that I will once again be working with Chihuly and his team in my most recent and ambitious space to date, the Warehouse Gallery, to present Chihuly at Sandra Ainsley Gallery 2016. I am honoured to be exhibiting this work, as I know it will continue to foster and grow the art of glass for future generations.

SANDRA AINSLEY

Rotolo 77, 2015, 27 x 18 x 12"

Silver Blue Spotted Ikebana with Purple Frog Foot Stem, 1996, 64 x 22 x 15"

Gilded Aqua Ikebana with Violet Stems, 2002, 65 x 42 x 14"

Pavonine Chandelier (detail opposite), 2014, 98 x 68 x 68"

Russet Eelgrass Fiori (detail opposite), 2014, 64 x 60 x 12"

Caption, White Persian 2014, Tower 64 x 60(detail X 12" opposite), 2010, 48 x 55 x 42"

Yellow and Spring Green Persian Wall, 2016, 6 x 11 x 1½'

Ocean Wave Chandelier (detail opposite), 2011, 75 x 58 x 58"

Twilight Mille Fiori (detail above and opposite), 2016, 7 x 7 x 10½'

RETOUCHING NEEDED

Ikebana Doppio Suite #9, 2001, 7 x 30'

Turquoise White Soft Cylinder with Orange Lip Wrap (detail opposite), 2012, 19 x 17 x 18"

Pacific Blue White Soft Cylinder with Navy Lip Wrap (detail opposite), 2012, 18 x 16 x 14"

Black Cylinder, 2008, 8 x 7 x 7" Black Cylinder, 2008, 13 x 5 x 5�

Clear Blanket Cylinder, 2016, 15 x 7 x 7” Clear Blanket Cylinder, 2016, 11 x 6 x 6”

Black Cylinder #61, 2008, 8 x 8 x 8"

Silvered Blanket Cylinder, 2010, 13 x 10 x 10"

Sunrise Yellow Blanket Cylinder, 2010, 19 x 10 x 10"

Peach Cylinders with Indian Blanket Drawings, 1995

Coral and Cadmium Persian Set, 2003, 16 x 33 x 33�

Southern Sun and Coral Persian Set with Black Sand Lip Wraps, 2002, 11 x 25 x 16�

Basket Drawing, 2013, 30 x 22"

Basket Drawing, 2013, 30 x 22"

Misty Green Macchia with Goldenrod Lip Wrap, 2014, 14 x 25 x 25"

Moresco Orange Macchia with Cobalt Lip Wrap, 2015, 18 x 29 x 29"

Ikebana Drawing, 2005, 60 x 40"

Scottsdale Workshop Drawing, 1997, 60 x 40�

Sun Yellow Macchia with Aqua Lip Wrap, 2015, 19 x 32 x 29"

Primrose Yellow Macchia with Blush Lip Wrap, 2012, 20 x 32 x 30"

Float Drawing, 2013, 30 x 22"

Ikebana Drawing, 2007, 42 x 30” Float and Reed Drawing, 2008, 42 x 30”

Float and Reed Drawing, 2008, 60 x 40” Float Drawing, 2014, 60 x 40”

Blue Reeds on Logs, 2014, 9½ x 10 x 5½'

James Mongrain, Chihuly, and Andrea Lesnett The Boathouse hotshop, Seattle, 2013

DALE CHIHULY Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.

In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art.

His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Chihuly has created more than a dozen well-known series of works, among them, Cylinders and Baskets in the 1970s; Seaforms, Macchia, Venetians, and Persians in the 1980s; Niijima Floats and Chandeliers in the 1990s; and Fiori in the 2000s. He is also celebrated for large architectural installations. In 1986, he was honored with a solo exhibition, Dale Chihuly objets de verre, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, in Paris. In 1995, he began Chihuly Over Venice, for which he created sculptures at glass factories in Finland, Ireland, and Mexico, then installed them over the canals and piazzas of Venice.

In 1999, Chihuly started an ambitious exhibition, Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem; more than 1 million visitors attended the Tower of David Museum to view his installations. In 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London curated the exhibition Chihuly at the V&A. Chihuly’s lifelong fascination for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within botanical settings. His Garden Cycle began in 2001 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago.

Chihuly exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London, in 2005. Other major exhibition venues include the de Young Museum in San Francisco, in 2008; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2011; and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in 2013. Chihuly Garden and Glass, a long-term exhibition, opened at Seattle Center in 2012.

For more information, visit: CHIHULY.com

Design: Goretti Kaomora Executive Consultant: Leslie Jackson Chihuly Photography: David Emery, Robin E. Kimmerling, Scott M. Leen, Teresa Nouri Rishel, and Nathaniel Willson Typeset in Flama, Feliciano Type Foundry Printed in Seattle by DCG ONE ISBN: 978-1-57684-060-3 Published by Chihuly Workshop, Seattle chihulyworkshop.com © 2016 by Chihuly Workshop

Dale Chihuly, Topaz and Aqua Persian Sconce Wall (detail on front), 2016, 66 x 72 x 16"