Chihuly

Wednesday I met a group of ladies at the Halcyon Gallery for a private tour of the Chihuly exhibit that had been arranged by one of the AWC members.  I've been a fan of Dale Chihuly's amazing glass creations ever since I first encountered his work at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas.  I've also seen installations at other casinos, including the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Borgata in Atlantic City, and Atlantis in the Bahamas.  When I moved to London, I immediately fell in love with the Victoria & Albert Museum when I walked in the front door and was greeted by a massive Chihuly chandelier.  But this was my first opportunity to see his work in a gallery setting.

After the receptionist took our coats and offered us glasses of water, we were greeted by Andy, who curated the exhibit.  He gave us a little background information about the evolution of Chihuly's work and even encouraged us to touch some of the pieces! 

Color study painting

Andy tells us about the "Persian" pieces on this table

Baskets

"Macchia"

These are nicknamed "The Uglies"

These purple rods are taller than I am and were blown in a studio in Finland --
the only one in the world equipped to make pieces this tall

Golden chandelier

"Ikebana"

Vault installation

Waterford crystal wall sconce

Boat full of floats

Mille Fiori garden installation

Chandelier detail

After we had seen all the Chihuly pieces, Andy took us into one of the back offices to show us some of the other art in their collection:

Andy Warhol

Monet

Degas

Dylan

Another Dylan

Who is Dylan?  Why, Bob Dylan, of course!  Yes, the singer/songwriter also dabbles in painting.

We were then brought into a lovely wood-paneled dining room where we were offered tea and coffee and each given a gift bag containing the (sizable) Chihuly exhibition catalog and invitations to preview two upcoming shows at the Halcyon Gallery.  The catalog is a gorgeous hardcover book the size of an atlas -- like one of those coffee table books that you could use as an actual coffee table.   Did I mention that this was a free tour?  Wow!

swag!

Afterwards several of us went to lunch at a nice Italian restaurant tucked away in an alley around the corner from the gallery.  What a fantastic outing!