Sandra Ainsley Gallery
Presenting the Dale Chihuly White Works

Early in his career, when Dale Chihuly was first developing his work based on off-center vessels, he chose to use single colors such as tobacco, white, and pink. He felt that it was important to see the form first. From there, he famously went on to methodically explore all 300 colors of glass that were available at the time. His genius was to apply colors in different sequences, mixing opaque colors with transparent ones and deliberately manipulating light as it traveled through his glass. Chihuly was also able to attain incredibly nuanced gradations by mixing chunks of colored glass of varying sizes with colored powders. These efforts have clearly established him as one of the greatest colorists in the history of the medium, arguably in the company of Émile Gallé and Louis Comfort Tiffany.
During the last few years, Chihuly has made a deliberate attempt to reconsider some of his seminal series in new and astonishing ways. This has resulted in a body of work that is, at its root and perhaps surprisingly, rather monochromatic. The Black series and the Silvered series have been met with tremendous enthusiasm.
Beginning in late 2010, Chihuly organized a Cylinder blow followed by both a Venetian and Soft Cylinder blow, with the idea of developing a White series. Rather than simply working in solid white, he had the idea of picking up thousands of white glass threads and floating them in clear glass over a base coat of white enamel. Chihuly once again worked with artists and decades-long collaborators Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, and they experimented with combining up to a dozen different types of whites: opaque, transparent, translucent, and alabaster variations. Miles of glass threads were pulled in Chihuly's hotshop to accomplish this. The team effort resulted in an incredible massing of a single color, part random pattern, part spontaneous drawing finished with a delicate, silver-like reduction.
The new White series showcases the work of a seasoned master who continues his relentless pursuit to expand his highly original language of glass.
—Mark McDonnell

The Warehouse Gallery is now open please note by appointment only
For appointment call 416-214-9490 and leave a message
contact@sandraainsleygallery.com