June 2008 - Chihuly Ar t Exhibit at the De Young

My friend Laurie and I went to see the Chihuly exhibit at the De Young. It was a great time as seeing the De Young museum was on my 'to do' list of cultural stuff in SF.

I'm getting in all the arts & touristy stuff I can while I'm able to walk but still unable to have aggressive excursions to places like Yosemite and elsewhere.



From Wikipedia:

The controversial new M.H. De Young Museum building was completed in October 2005. It stands near the San Andreas fault, where the original De Young had been severely damaged in 1989 by the Loma Prieta earthquake. The terrain and seismic activity posed a problem for the designers Herzog & de Meuron and principal architects Fong & Chan.

To address the problem of the fault, “[the building] can move up to three feet (91 centimeters) due to a unique system of ball-bearing sliding plates and viscous fluid dampers that absorb kinetic energy and convert it to heat” (Ashmore).

Location in the middle of an urban park has also been controversial, and San Francisco voters twice defeated bond measures that were to fund the project. After the second defeat, the museum itself planned to relocate to a location in the financial district. However, an effort by supporters arose keep the museum in the Park.

In reaction to this history of controversy, the designers were sensitive to the appearance of the building in its natural setting. The entire exterior is clad in 163,118 ft² (15,153 square m²) of copper, which is expected to eventually oxidize and take on a greenish tone and a distinct texture to echo the nearby eucalyptus trees. In order to further harmonize with the surroundings, shapes were cut into the top to reveal gardens and courtyards where 48 trees had been planted. 5.12 acres (20,700 square meters) of new landscaping had been planted as well, with 344 transplanted trees and 69 historic boulders.

The twisting 144 foot (44 m) tall tower is a distinctive and controversial feature, and can be seen sticking up through the canopy of Golden Gate Park from many areas of San Francisco. (Source- “De Young By The Numbers.” San Francisco Chronicle).

Chihuly at the de Young is an exploration of the groundbreaking artwork of Dale Chihuly. From the Mille Fiori (a 56-foot garden of glass) to the Saffron Tower (a 30-foot neon sculpture), this exhibition challenges convention with a feast of bold color, dramatic forms and extraordinary composition.

Podcast Interview with Dale Chihuly
In April we sat down with Dale Chihuly to talk with him about his art, the exhibition Chihuly at the de Young, and his own unique collections, many of which have directly inspired his work. Listen to the interview by downloading one of these files:
Chihuly Interview M4A (enhanced with images) »
Chihuly Interview MP3 »

Chihuly at the de Young is Dale Chihuly’s first major exhibition in San Francisco, and includes eleven galleries of new and archival works representing the breadth and scope of the artist’s creative vision over the last four decades. The de Young Museum is the only venue for this exhibition.

Chihuly at the de Young is Dale Chihuly’s first major exhibition in San Francisco, and includes eleven galleries of new and archival works representing the breadth and scope of the artist’s creative vision over the last four decades. The de Young Museum is the only venue for this exhibition.

About the Exhibition
Chihuly at the de Young takes a comprehensive view of the artist’s dramatic, colorful, and textured works that generate instant international recognition. This exhibition represents all the creative periods of the artist’s career, from drawings to single vessels to architectural installations. Included in the exhibition:

• Glass Forest #3 recreates one of Chihuly’s earliest installations. Comprised of white milk-glass and neon, the first version of this work was exhibited in New York at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now the Museum of Arts & Design), and has not been viewed in the U.S. since 1972.
• Five Chandeliers will dramatically transform an entire gallery. Their titles suggest a feast of color and form, characteristic of one of Chihuly’s most celebrated series: Ruby Red, Turquoise Icicle, Orange Hornet and Eelgrass, Chiostro di Sant’ Apollonia, and Palazzo de Loredana Balboni.
• The Tabac Baskets will be displayed in the context of objects that have served as sources of inspiration to the artist.
• A 56-foot-long Mille Fiori garden of glass composed of bold forms in vibrant colors provides a powerful conclusion to the exhibition.

Prior to the opening of the exhibition, Chihuly created several installations that take advantage of the spectacular settings and architecture of both the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums. These ambitious installations debuted in April and offer museum visitors a preview of Chihuly at the de Young. They will remain on view throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Other collections they had that were excellent:

American Painting
1,100 Works, 500 Digitized

The de Young houses one of the finest collections of American paintings in the United States. Strengthened by the acquisition of the Rockefeller Collection of American Art, the de Young's treasures include more than 1000 paintings that represent a spectrum of American art from colonial times into the twenty-first century. Gems of the collection include George Caleb Bingham's Boatmen on the Missouri, Frederic Edwin Church's Rainy Season in the Tropics, Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park #116, and 20th-century treasures from artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, and Grant Wood.

Art of the Americas
2,500 Works, 1,000 Digitized

A walk through the de Young's collection of objects from Mesoamerica, Central and South America, as well as the West Coast of North America reveals the richness and complexity of art that links the Americas. Notable treasures include the largest group of Teotihuacan wall murals outside of Mexico, a Peruvian mouth mask of hammered gold from the Nazca culture, and a ten-foot totem pole from Alaska.

Explore the de Young's important collection of Teotihuacan murals in our new online feature:
The Harald Wagner Collection of Teotihuacan Murals »

Oceanic Art
900 Works, 25 Digitized

The Oceanic collections were charter collections of the de Young Museum, their nucleus being formed in 1894 at the California Midwinter Fair. Over the past century, additional works have been gifted and purchased.

A recently revealed tino aitu figure [pictured left] from Nukuoro Atoll in the Caroline Islands is on loan from Mina and Edward Smith. Through the 19th century, tino aitu were venerated in temples and decorated with pigment and flowers. Less than ten monumental figures of this type have survived. An unpublished report by Douglas Newton [PDF] specifically addresses the place of the figure within the corpus of Nukuoro sculpture. Roger Neich reveals new research concerning the figure in his recent report [PDF].

http://www.chihuly.com/news.html