Dale Chihulyˊs Blown Glass Art at Kew Gardens in London

During 2019, Dale Chihuly, the famous American glass artist, has had his second exhibition at Kew Gardens in London, UK. We had a chance to visit this stunning exhibition and would like to share a few photographic impressions from “Reflections on Nature”, the Dale Chihuly artworks at Kew Gardens.

The Chihuly exhibition “Reflections on Nature” in Kew Gardens in London provided opportunities to take beautiful photos of his colourful glass sculptures.

Yes, we are late with our post; the exhibition will be dismantled starting from the 28^th of October 2019. So there’s only a short time left if you would like to catch up on this event in London.

Chihuly Glass Sculptures in Botanical Gardens

But don’t despair! Dale Chihuly loves to cooperate with botanical gardens around the world, so you have a good chance to see his work next year somewhere else. Not all pieces will be the same, the setting will be different, but we guarantee that the enjoyment and beauty can be experienced elsewhere!

You can check dates of current and upcoming Chihuly Exhibitions on the artist’s website.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.
We walked around Kew Gardens in a clockwise direction and our photos are roughly in the same order.

The first Chihuly glass sculpture near the entrance into Kew Gardens: a large ball of pointy blue and white glass sticks, called Sapphire Star.

Chihuly Glass art inside the exhibition pavilion at KEW gardens: a set of orange-brown blown glass objects stacked inside each other, called Chrysanthemum Basket Set.

A group of the typical large scale Chihuly blown glass bowls in the exhibition pavilion at Kew. All six have different striking colour combinations. Often the inside layer is of a different colour to the outside.

Inside the Temperate House of Kew Gardens: several Chihuly Glass Art instalments have been arranged here, around the existing plantings of lush subtropical greens. In the centre, there is the large group of Temperate House Persians, blue-green flowerlike plates, hanging in a column, down from the ceiling.

For me, the most striking Glass Art inside Kew’s Temperate House: in a water pond, surrounded by leafy greens and large ferns, sits the green and yellow glass spikey group, called Fiori Verdi.

At ground level inside the Kew Temperate House: these Turquoise Marlins, Chihuly’s striped elongated blown glass leaves, are arranged among light-blue mirrored glass balls.

Chihuly’s blown glass balls of various colours and sizes installed in a bed of finely raked gravel – called Niijima Floats. Fittingly this art installation is in the Japanese Gardens of Kew.

“Cattails and Copper Birch Reeds” is a large Chihuly installation of leafy looking, red and yellow coloured, tall glass tubes, all curved and bent, standing left and right of a path leading through tall grasses.

“Neodymium Reeds and Turquoise Marlins” is the name of two groups of Chihuly glass tubes, which stand left and right of a stair leading down into a hidden garden at Kew. The “Turquoise Marlins” are broad, shorter, and more curved. The “Neodymium Reeds” stand tall in a striking mauve colour against the surrounding greenery.

Chihuly’s “Scarlet and Yellow Icicle Tower” is made of hundreds of spiky glass sticks, standing almost as tall as the trees nearby.

Chihuly’s “Paintbrushes” are blown glass rods of varying sizes arranged around an antique stone urn in a decorative plant bed. Thin yellow glass rods end in a brush-like flared bright-red top.

“Summer Sun”, a striking Chihuly Glass Art, sits at the edge of a pool outside the Kew Palm House. It’s made from thousands of twisted and curled glass rods in bright red and yellow – all arranged in a ball shape on a red leg.

Settings in nature lend themselves to Chihuly Sculptures, since most of his pieces seem to be strongly inspired by nature. His organic shapes complement the surroundings; only his use of strong colours in the glass provides the stark contrast. Thus, the Kew exhibition’s name “Reflections On Nature” is rather fitting.

A plant photographed in the Kew Temperate House: the “Musella Lasiocarpa”. Its bright yellow centre, among large green leaves, suggests where Chihuly might find the inspiration for some of his organic-looking blown glass objects.

Another plant, which I photographed in the Kew Temperate House: the large, bright orange and yellow flower ball of a “Scadoxus Puniceus”. Doesn’t it look eerily similar to the two Chihuly Glass Sculptures displayed at Kew, the “Sapphire Star” and the “Summer Sun”?

If you want to learn more about his work, the Chihuly website has an interesting article about the artist’s life. In recent times the creation of his work has also attracted some strong controversy; after all, Chihuly himself hasn’t blown any glass since a shoulder injury in 1974. There’s an insightful article on the New York Times website about a recent court case: “Who Is Really Making ‘Chihuly Art’?” .

We first learned about Dale Chihuly when we visited the “Museum of Glass” in Tacoma , during our first Pan-Am roadtrip in 2006. Because I’m always keen to see contemporary art and sculpture, it was a beautiful and inspiring place on the way to Alaska. This is a recommended stop for anyone who would love to witness the labour-intensive process of creating bits and pieces for large glass sculptures, and to see the largest collection of Chihuly’s work on permanent display.

At the Tacoma “Museum of Glass”, you can watch the labour-intensive creation of some large pieces of blown glass, which are very similar to sections of sculptures designed by Chihuly. The museum was founded as an initiative of Dale Chihuly, who was born and raised in Tacoma. His own studios are in nearby Seattle. [Photo taken during our visit in 2006.]

Our photos should give you a good impression of Chihuly’s creative work; the scale of some of his sculptures, and the inspirational synergy of his colourful glass installations with the gardens. It won’t matter if you miss this particular event in London, as long as you find the opportunity to visit a similarly themed exhibition elsewhere in the world…

Our absolutely favourite Chihuly Glass Art at Kew Gardens: the installation in the Waterlily House. Arrangements of white and grey, round, leaf-shaped glass plates, of varying irregular shapes and sizes, sit in the pool of waterlilies – complimenting each others size and appearance.

Kew Gardens in London

A visit to Kew Gardens will be a nice escape from the city at any time, with or without the attraction of a famous art exhibition. The gardens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collection in the world”.

The garden’s park lands are extensive and the themed greenhouses extremely interesting. Our only criticisms are the fairly high entrance fees , and that the gardens are located right in the flightpath of Heathrow Airport – a constant reminder that you are near a mega city.

Inspiring Dale Chihuly Coffee Table Books at AMAZON

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The photo book to Chihuly at Kew in London:

Chihuly at Kew: Reflections on nature

A photo book with Chihuly Garden Installations:

Chihuly Garden Installations

 

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