Chihuly at Fairchild

[Karl-G]

It has just been widely publicized that there will be a major Dale Chihuly exhibition at Fairchild Botanic Gardens in So. Miami from Dec. 6, 2014 (this Saturday) until May 6, 2015. Mr. Chihuly is the foremost glass artist in the world. He had a wonderful show here seven years ago, but this is the first time he has returned to a site for a second show. This will be the largest garden exposition of his works ever. There will be 23 major installations, and a single tower may consist of more than 2,000 pieces of blown glass. Some photographs are already on the web. In recent years, he has had garden exhibitions in Denver, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta. The big retrospectives indoors have been in San Francisco and Montreal, with lots of smaller shows in many cities around the world.

 

Fairchild Gardens are very large, and there are lots of space and sites for Chihuly to show his works at their best. If you have never seen a Chihuly exhibition, this will be a marvelous opportunity, and if you already know Chihuly's work, you can see some of your favorites plus new work. There will be Boats and Floats, Towers, Suns, Cacti, Chandeliers, Ikebana, Walla Wallas, Macchia, Herons, Reeds, Millefiori, Persians, Sea Forms, Hornets, and more. A number of the pieces are lighted at night, and there will be special evening viewings.

 

The Gardens are about 15 minutes south of downtown Miami by car and will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. There is a dining room and a snack bar.

[jakeleyman]

Chihily recently had an exhibit at the President Clinton Library. It was very commencial with lots of baby Chihulys for sale and t-shirts, silk screens etc. I also was kind of bored with the exhibit which included some huge pieces indoors and out. It kind of seemed like 6 flags over Chihuly. I also learned that he likely did not touch one single piece on exhibit. Apparently there is a Chihuly "factory" with apprentices who put together this stuff. I saw an exhibit quite a few years ago which impressed but the combination of things turned me off this time. Others loved it.

[+ nycman]

His "work" is pretty much junk.

 

A bunch of low brow glass tchotchke's at best.

 

And yes, the commercialism of his "shows" is off putting.

 

It belongs in botanical gardens and 3rd rate Caribbean casinos...and thankfully that's where most of it is.