Stockbridge, MA (August 2019) A new exhibition by Dale Chihuly will open at Schantz Galleries in Stockbridge on August 1 and run through September 22, 2019. Chihuly is an American artist noted for revolutionizing the studio glass movement and elevating perceptions of the glass medium. His ambitious architectural installations have been placed in notable cities, museums, and gardens around the world, and his work is in the permanent collections of more than 200 museums. Schantz Galleries provides visitors with a more intimate setting in which to experience Chihuly’s work.

Chihuly has mastered the alluring, translucent, and transparent qualities of glass, ice, water, Polyvitro, and neon, to create works of art that transform spaces to create new viewer experiences. With a background in interior design and architecture, Chihuly has always been interested in light, space and form. Working within the architecture of the gallery, he and his team have designed a site-specific exhibition to present several of his well-known series along with large-scale installations. ­­

This exhibition, Chihuly’s second with the gallery, will feature new architectural installations and pedestal artworks which will give visitors insight into the artist’s range of exploration over the last five decades. The stunning blown-glass sculptures on view will include two Chandeliers, a Persian Wall Sconce, Ikebana, Baskets, Persians, and a Rotolo sculpture. The Rotolo works are a study in the impact of a single color—in this case blue—and how that color can vary as the coiled form of the blown glass stretches or doubles back on itself. In addition to the blown-glass sculptures, Chihuly has included his energetic Drawings, and a Glass on Glass painting. Glass on Glass is the latest body of work by Dale Chihuly, which fluently articulates the artist’s mastery of the transmission of light through transparent media. Comprising glass panels that are painted with vitreous-glass enamel, then layered atop one another to create a single unified vision, Glass on Glass invites interaction, revealing the surface of each distinct layer and the composition’s depth as the viewer changes position. The artist has always used drawing as a form of conveying his concepts to his glassblowing team and the series has evolved into a unique body of two-dimensional work that references the development of his glass series.  

A man of intense focus and commitment, Chihuly is an artist possessed to make the most of every creative moment. The ideas flow immediately from one project to the next.  “...it’s one thing to get an idea, it’s something to think of something, but it’s another thing entirely to do it.” ­­­­“We are truly honored to have the opportunity to exhibit works by Dale Chihuly in Stockbridge,” said gallery owner and director Jim Schantz . “Chihuly is one of the most well-known living American artists—certainly the most recognized glass artist in the world—and he continues to work in a grand and exhilarating way.”

Chihuly’s solo exhibition venues are many and include the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the de Young Museum, San Francisco; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and currently Chihuly at Kew: Reflections on Nature at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Chihuly Garden and Glass, a long-term exhibition, opened at Seattle Center in 2012. 

Schantz Galleries is a destination for those seeking contemporary art by premier artists working in the medium of glass. Located at 3 Elm St. in Stockbridge, Mass., the gallery has established itself as one of the leading contemporary art glass galleries. www.schantzgalleries.com