Chihuly in Atlanta

[Karl-G]

If you are looking for an interesting place to go for a few days and easy to get to, I recommend Atlanta. Currently there is a wonderful exhibit of the glass art of Dale Chihuly at the Botanic Gardens, which are right in the center of town. These gardens are quite different from the Chicago Botanic Garden or Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia. And Chihuly sites his works superbly in the forest settings. There is a "Canopy Walk" which is suspended on steel cables, and you walk above the tree tops and can look down on the Chihuly installations before you descend to ground level and see them close-up. The orchid conservatory is exceptionally good. There are also examples of mosaiculture, including the "Earth Goddess" and "Shaggy Dog," which is made up of 2,600 carex comens plants, a New Zealand decorative grass.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03b5%20Hornets%20Water%20Drops.jpg

Hornets, Waterdrops, and Neodymium Reeds

 

And then there is the High Museum of Art, just a few blocks away. It is superb and currently has four special shows in addition to the very rich permanent collection. The Folk Art Exhibit was fascinating and Mattie Lou O'Kelley is now one of my favorites, although there were a number of other fascinating artists. A large retrospective of photographs by Walker Evans from his whole career are powerful and fascinating to look at. Then there is a special exhibit on "The History of Sneakers." Someone has a collection of of 800 sneakers, including all Air Jordans ever made, and they are on display.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/01a1%20High%20Museum.jpg

 

But the exhibit I enjoyed the most was Vik Muniz, a Brazilian-American artist who works primarily as a photographer. When you look at his works from ten feet away, you think you recognize quite easily the madonna or child or landscape or whatever. But as you get closer to the work, the image disappears and the actual material of the image takes over. The image of the boy soldier from the Civil War is actually hundreds of little plastic toy soldiers. The "Bar at the Folies Bergere" is actually hundreds of torn out pictures and words from magazines, and the image of the madonna, which was shot from 40 feet up, is actually made up of garbage in Rio. Muniz worked in series and the museum has many.

 

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03h6a%20Mattie%20Lou%20OKelley%20Yard%20Sale%201991.jpg

"Yard Sale" 1991 by Mattie Lou O'Kelley, painted when she was 83

 

The museum building is one of the best in the U.S. The Richard Meier building from 1983 is flashy but basically good, but the three additional buildings by Renzo Piano in 2005 are what every museum should have - large, well lighted galleries. The High has much to show; one room had four Basquiats, which is more than most museums can muster. The High Museum is named after Hattie High, a very generous lady, who gave her house and land on Peachtree St. as the first home of the Atlanta Art Museum.

[+ Truereview]

If you are looking for an interesting place to go for a few days and easy to get to, I recommend Atlanta. Currently there is a wonderful exhibit of the glass art of Dale Chihuly at the Botanic Gardens, which are right in the center of town. These gardens are quite different from the Chicago Botanic Garden or Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia. And Chihuly sites his works superbly in the forest settings. There is a "Canopy Walk" which is suspended on steel cables, and you walk above the tree tops and can look down on the Chihuly installations before you descend to ground level and see them close-up. The orchid conservatory is exceptionally good. There are also examples of mosaiculture, including the "Earth Goddess" and "Shaggy Dog," which is made up of 2,600 carex comens plants, a New Zealand decorative grass.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03b5%20Hornets%20Water%20Drops.jpg

Hornets, Waterdrops, and Neodymium Reeds

So glad you pointed this out! The Chihuly installations look amazing. Will add to my next visit. I may even take a date and then have dinner at Nan Thai!

[+ nycman]

I saw a Chihuly exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2011.

 

Honestly, I thought it was an embarrassment for the BMFA.

 

His "art" belongs in Casinos, Cruise Ships, and Bad Southern Gardens...not in world class "Fine Art Museums".

[Karl-G]

If you have a garden, you might be interested in some of the flowers they had in the Atlanta Botanic Garden.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/04c8%20blue%20feather%20flowers_1.jpg

 

This is the "Stokes Aster" or Stokesia laevis. It is a common flower in the Southeast but will grow elsewhere, and it has a nice feathery appearance and a beautiful blue color. It is a member of the aster family and about 16 inches high.

 

One of the most unusual, yet ordinary flowers, blooming was the "Scarlet Rose Swamp Mallow" or "Texas Star Hibiscus."

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/04b8%20Large%20red%20flowers.jpg

 

Lady Bird Johnson encouraged planting this flower in yards and along roads, and so a lot of people did. It grows tall, about six feet high, and the flowers are very large and flashy, almost a foot across. So it makes a great plant background for your garden. You may also have noted that its leaves look like another plant. A number of people were busted by the cops until Lady Bird explained that they were not related and this was not a hallucinogenic. But it is very colorful. A sign nearby warned, however, that it reseeds itself and it can take over a garden or roadside, so you must keep an eye on it.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03c5%20Blue%20Rose%20of%20Sharon_1.jpg

 

This is a blue "Rose of Sharon," and there were many of them in the Garden. The color is a French blue and different from the white, pink, and lavender Rose of Sharon that one usually finds. They made a beautiful setting for Chihuly's "Saffron Tower."

[+ Truereview]

If you have a garden, you might be interested in some of the flowers they had in the Atlanta Botanic Garden.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/04c8%20blue%20feather%20flowers_1.jpg

 

This is the "Stokes Aster" or Stokesia laevis. It is a common flower in the Southeast but will grow elsewhere, and it has a nice feathery appearance and a beautiful blue color. It is a member of the aster family and about 16 inches high.

 

One of the most unusual, yet ordinary flowers, blooming was the "Scarlet Rose Swamp Mallow" or "Texas Star Hibiscus."

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/04b8%20Large%20red%20flowers.jpg

 

Lady Bird Johnson encouraged planting this flower in yards and along roads, and so a lot of people did. It grows tall, about six feet high, and the flowers are very large and flashy, almost a foot across. So it makes a great plant background for your garden. You may also have noted that its leaves look like another plant. A number of people were busted by the cops until Lady Bird explained that they were not related and this was not a hallucinogenic. But it is very colorful. A sign nearby warned, however, that it reseeds itself and it can take over a garden or roadside, so you must keep an eye on it.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03c5%20Blue%20Rose%20of%20Sharon_1.jpg

 

This is a blue "Rose of Sharon," and there were many of them in the Garden. The color is a French blue and different from the white, pink, and lavender Rose of Sharon that one usually finds. They made a beautiful setting for Chihuly's "Saffron Tower."

Thanks for sharing the flower pix. My mom is an avid gardener and I'm trying to learn from her. She has a place in the East so reading thru this info was all good. I'm working on my garden here in LA. I have fuchsia, poppies, and bush called monkey flower with beautiful yellow flowers. - newbie gardener.

[sincitymix]

If you are looking for an interesting place to go for a few days and easy to get to, I recommend Atlanta. Currently there is a wonderful exhibit of the glass art of Dale Chihuly at the Botanic Gardens, which are right in the center of town. These gardens are quite different from the Chicago Botanic Garden or Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia. And Chihuly sites his works superbly in the forest settings. There is a "Canopy Walk" which is suspended on steel cables, and you walk above the tree tops and can look down on the Chihuly installations before you descend to ground level and see them close-up. The orchid conservatory is exceptionally good. There are also examples of mosaiculture, including the "Earth Goddess" and "Shaggy Dog," which is made up of 2,600 carex comens plants, a New Zealand decorative grass.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03b5%20Hornets%20Water%20Drops.jpg

Hornets, Waterdrops, and Neodymium Reeds

 

And then there is the High Museum of Art, just a few blocks away. It is superb and currently has four special shows in addition to the very rich permanent collection. The Folk Art Exhibit was fascinating and Mattie Lou O'Kelley is now one of my favorites, although there were a number of other fascinating artists. A large retrospective of photographs by Walker Evans from his whole career are powerful and fascinating to look at. Then there is a special exhibit on "The History of Sneakers." Someone has a collection of of 800 sneakers, including all Air Jordans ever made, and they are on display.

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/01a1%20High%20Museum.jpg

 

But the exhibit I enjoyed the most was Vik Muniz, a Brazilian-American artist who works primarily as a photographer. When you look at his works from ten feet away, you think you recognize quite easily the madonna or child or landscape or whatever. But as you get closer to the work, the image disappears and the actual material of the image takes over. The image of the boy soldier from the Civil War is actually hundreds of little plastic toy soldiers. The "Bar at the Folies Bergere" is actually hundreds of torn out pictures and words from magazines, and the image of the madonna, which was shot from 40 feet up, is actually made up of garbage in Rio. Muniz worked in series and the museum has many.

 

 

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x167/edith_piaf/03h6a%20Mattie%20Lou%20OKelley%20Yard%20Sale%201991.jpg

"Yard Sale" 1991 by Mattie Lou O'Kelley, painted when she was 83

 

The museum building is one of the best in the U.S. The Richard Meier building from 1983 is flashy but basically good, but the three additional buildings by Renzo Piano in 2005 are what every museum should have - large, well lighted galleries. The High has much to show; one room had four Basquiats, which is more than most museums can muster. The High Museum is named after Hattie High, a very generous lady, who gave her house and land on Peachtree St. as the first home of the Atlanta Art Museum.

 

for a second i thought this said Cthulu in Atlanta

[+ Keith30309]

for a second i thought this said Cthulu in Atlanta

 

Yeah - at city hall when there is a new airport concession or construction contract up.