Dale Chihuly’s Glass Gardens

At 75 , artist Dale Chihuly still draws and paints every day. “Using color, shape, line, and light has always played a central role in [my] creativity,” he says. The results of this process are the swirling, monumental blown-glass sculptures that have defined his career. Opening this Saturday and on view through October 29, “Chihuly” at New York Botanical Garden features a selection of his drawings alongside 20 site-specific glass installations set in greenhouses and other enclosures. While this is the Seattle-based artist’s first show in New York City in more than a decade, it’s something of a sequel to his exhibition at the botanical garden in 2006. The venue suits him on a personal level as well. “My mother was an avid gardener,” he says. “So I’ve always had an interest in gardens and conservatories.” It’s also a fitting backdrop for the glass tendrils and other plant-like forms for which Chihuly is known.

Above: Dale Chihuly’s “Boathouse 7 Neon” (2016). (Photo: Courtesy the artist and New York Botanical Garden)