Posted: 4 years ago

This could be called a journey back to the future. "Back" in that we came to Pittsburgh where I was born and attended the art museum for lessons from the age of 8 to 18. Then I would return each year for the Pittsburgh International and new exhibitions. This time it is "the future" by seeing what Italian glass maestros have created in contemporary glass. Although Venice glass works have been famous since 1600, it is in 1921 that the Venini glass factory was established by Vittorio Zecchin (using the patterns of glass from Renaissance paintings). Murano Glass in Venice is world fashion (even before these exhibitions of their wares and maestros). The exhibition was called, at the museum, "Viva Vetro! Glass Alive! Venice and American." It showed the brillance of the works of Fulvio Bianconi, Alfredo Barbini, Lino Tagliapietra and many more.  It was marvelous as an adventure in new ideas expressed in glass.

Also at the same time, there is a major exhibition of Dale Chihuly's glass works that are magnificent and mind-expanding. You do not need any drugs to make you see outside yourself to a new vision, a new realm of reality that borders on whimsy and magic in glass. Some of you, who attended the RI Convention in Salt Lake City, saw Chihuly's red chandelier when it was lit at night in the Performing Arts Building and during the day when it spun its magic like a sea spider weaving a tangled web on our consciousness. This was even better, bigger. It put the glass creations beside, into and around the growing things at the conservatory (which was just expanded to twice its original size). Now that I have seen what influence Venice Glass has had on American glass makers (like Chihuly) I want to go to Venice (will contact Paolo and Fererico to go with me there) and see what they create in their workshop in the middle of the city.

Some experience expand your life and your vistas. Today was one of them. And Italy came to Pittsburgh with its marvelous glass works and enlightened our city. Chihuly went to Venice and helped them become more free in their thinking. What a glorious partnership. And it is still going on. Glass is the past and the future of art. I was blown away by today and this journey back to the future.

Joe 

Posted: 4 years ago

Add a dash of Chihuly. This could be called Part Two of our glass journey and travels. We went to see and experience Chihuly at Phipps. This is the seventh exhibition of glass masterworks that Dale Chihuly has had in observatories. And it is a perfect fit. His colors and shapes and constructions reflect the nature around his works of art. Of course, they are magnificent. What he has done with glass and nature is similar to the revolution that started humanism and classicism in the Renaissance (and influenced Murano Glass in Venice to copy the shapes in the paintings), the giant paintings of Monet of waterlilies at Givernay, Van Gogh's wheatfields at Arles, the photographs of the American west and its vastness, and the new environmental work where the landscape is reshaped by the artist on a vast scale. What Chihuly has done is force a viewer to see nature in a new light and in that reflection see his colors and shapes as never before. What he creates seems so simple and pure when you walk through the juxtaposition of plants and glass but it is a brillant mixture of imagination and insight. One has an apiphany, a look into the soul of another human being which results in seeing inside the creation of nature. That is a mouthful to say but it is so true when you walk by this man's work which jumps all over the world, sells for thousands (even as a single piece) and hundreds of thousands for his chandelairs and fountains, and has transformed art for the late 20th and 21st century. His workshop is late Michelangelo's or Rembrandt, having seventeen assistants and all his students. Later, when my photographs come through, I will send you all some of the images from his work with gardens. Those of us who traveled to Salt Lake City and met with some of our fellows at RECSWUSA know the feeling. It changes your vision of the world by having your sight reflected through others. That is what this experience did for me. The last time that this happened was seeing, for the first time, a performance by Robert Wilson. It changed my sense of time and space. This Chihuly experience will shape and restrengthen my love of color plus my understanding of nature. Anne joked about it since I was overflowing with praise for this Seattle artist (who works as much in Venice, Italy), saying: "Anything now just needs a dash of Chihuly (as if it was a spice for food that needed coloration and vigor). If you have a chance, give your life a "dash of Chihuly." It will make each day taste better.

Joe

Posted: 4 years ago

Friends and relatives took Anne and me out to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary (which was in January but we were in Texas and all our old friends were here). We went to Mt. Washington which overlooks the triangle of rivers: Allegheny, Monongahala and the Ohio, the lights of the two stadiums, boats slowly moving (there is a wake rule where all the boats must almost drift around the Point Fountain). There was music from the 60s by an Italian singer and piano player, waiters in tuxedoes, and magnificent food. I remember Pittsburgh from my youth when my parents would take us (my two brothers and my sister and me) out to see the glow of the steel mills against an ink-filled night. It was beautiful. The steel mills are gone but at present it is the lights of corporate centers and restored steel mill buildings which are now malls and nightclubs. It is still one of the most beautiful cities in the world at night. One of great pleasure about Pittsburgh is coming into the city through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and emerging onto the Point Bridge with all the lights in front of you.  It is truly special. Someday if you are coming to Pittsburgh, let me tell you about where to eat, when to go up on the Inclines to see the city from Mt. Washington, and where to visit. It still is one of the most exciting cities in the world with a rich English, German, Italian, French, Jewish, Afro American, Oriental and other cultures in its "stew pot" of hard working citizens. The next new thing will be a whole several blocks of gambling places beside the baseball and football stadiums. In between is the Science Museum which is also special. Venice has its Biennial and Pittsburgh has its International Exhibition which enriches an already rich art and cultural tradition.  

Joe