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Dale Chihuly

born 1941 Tacoma, Washington; lives Seattle, Washington

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Dale Chihuly is a contemporary American glassblower whose large-scale installations can be found on permanent display in institutions worldwide. Employing a myriad of colors, Chihuly’s work is often placed atop lights to accentuate it transparent glow. “Glass is the most magical of all materials,” he has said. “It transmits light in a special way.” Born on September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, WA, he studied glassblowing at the University of Madison-Wisconsin—the first dedicated program of study of its kind in the United States. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he graduated with an MFA in 1986. Set on knowing as much about traditional glassblowing as possible, he traveled to the island of Murano in Venice, Italy, where he worked at the Venini factory perfecting his understanding of the medium through both contemporary and ancient techniques. In 1976, Chihuly lost his eye in a car accident, and would eventually be forced to stop blowing glass directly altogether. He now works with a team to coordinate his numerous projects, which include large tentacle-like glass chandeliers, ikebana installations, and garden works that require careful assembly. In 2002, he gifted his home city of Tacoma one of his largest installations, The Glass Bridge, a concrete bridge decorated with small vases. The artist currently lives and works in Seattle, WA. Today, his works can be found in the collections of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. [artnet]

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