Reeds, by Dale Chihuly. (Photos by C-M.)
Last week, Kenneth Baker at the San Francisco Chronicle gave the Dale Chihuly exhibit at S.F.’s De Young Museum a serious inverted atomic drop. I figured that if the show was truly that bad, then I definitely had to check it out.
It was, indeed, a saccharine-fest. But it’s so over the-top that it’s worthwhile if you happen to be in possession of some Grade A Cali medicinal. There is so much color and so much light and it’s so relentless that you leave the exhibit feeling as if you just spent a binge weekend in Vegas: your brain is slightly numb and you can’t quite remember what happened, but you’re certain you had a very good time.
Chihuly is up through September 28th.
Click on images to supersize. More after the jump.
You’ve seen the art, now buy the merch: This piece, Celtic Emerald Persian Pair, was in the gift shop, which bore an eerie resemblance to the exhibit. (Or is it that the exhibit bears a striking resemblance to a gift shop? Hard to tell.) Either way, this puppy could be yours for only $6,100.
Posted by C-Monster.
When I saw this post I almost thought you were going to laud him and I was going to lose my shit! LOL
it’s not a bad show if viewed under the right conditions. ;-p
From the pictures and the post, I don’t understand why there’s so much contempt for this artist. It may be a very colourful show but I like color.
Your comment «There is so much color and so much light and it’s so relentless that you leave the exhibit feeling as if you just spent a binge weekend in Vegas» reminds me of the bad critical reception of Fauve artists at the Paris Salon of 1905.