Last night I attended the Member’s Preview of Chihuly Illuminated, the latest exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art. This exhibit features the glass sculptures, paintings, and other works by the renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. The Chihuly works have come to Columbus in conjunction with the Franklin Park Conservatory’s exhibit Chihuly Reimagined. Having seen the Franklin Park Conservatory’s exhibit, as well as the Chihuly: The Nature of Glass exhibit at the Arizona Botanical gardens I was anxious to see how the feature at the Columbus Museum would differ from the other two. I was also concerned I would be unimpressed after seeing the other two exhibits; they were very well done.
As I walked into the museum, my concerns quickly vanished. The exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art is so different from all of the other Chihuly shows I’ve seen. To start, many of his glass works are lit with florescent lighting, making the pieces glow luminously. In addition to the cool lighting effects, the exhibit also features paintings done by Chihuly. The wall of paintings is really interesting to look at because they are basically the blueprints for the glass sculptures he creates.
Probably the coolest part of the exhibit is the piece entitled Mille Fiori, which is a 56-foot garden made from hand-blown glass. The piece is colorful, intricate, and amazing. You should go see this exhibit just to check out this work of art!
The exhibit will be in Columbus September 25- July 4, 2010 so make sure you stop in and see it. For information on the Columbus Museum of Art visit their website at www.columbusmuseum.org. For more information on Dale Chihuly visit http://www.chihuly.com/.
