June 2012
2 posts
7 tags
Chihuly: Cloud White Seaform Set With Jet Black...
D and I wanted to mark our first decade of art glass collecting with a Seaform set, after enjoying Chihuly’s London exhibition at the Halycon Gallery. Between the many beautiful pieces that came up, we happily picked a Cloud White Seaform set from the Gallery at CityCenter, Las Vegas.
The stacking of a Chihuly set was and will always be a delightful and anticipative experience. Here’s...
5 tags
Chihuly: How To Unbox A Cloud White Seaform
Step 1: Cut open the box flaps.
Step 2: Remove foam to reveal the first layer.
Step 3: Remove more foam to reveal the second layer.
Step 4: Remove yet more foam to reveal the final layer.
May 2012
3 posts
6 tags
Liuligongfang: Amber Plum Blossoms
In Chinese culture, the plum blossom is a symbol of courage, resilience and perseverance. In Chinese painting, the plant is one of the Four Gentlemen (or Four Noble Ones) and represents the winter season.
~~~
深深地從雪裡邊
蘇醒，
靜靜地綻開，
一朵朵的信仰。
~~~
Close-up view of the embedded bowl
Another close-up view of the embedded bowl
Top view of the bowl
Another top view of the bowl
Back view
...
6 tags
Liuligongfang: Green Bamboos
In Chinese culture, the bamboo is a symbol of longevity, virtue and moral integrity. In Chinese painting, the plant is one of the Four Gentlemen (or Four Noble Ones) and represents the summer season.
~~~
一段竹節
幾片竹葉
能否聽見
風裏竹子的吟唱？
千秋萬世
知識份子的志氣。
~~~
Side view
Close-up view of the embedded bowl
Another side view
Top view of the bowl
Back view
Information on this piece.
...
6 tags
Liuligongfang: Blue Orchids
In Chinese culture, the orchid is a symbol of beauty, refinement and ‘the perfect or superior man’. In Chinese painting, the plant is one of the Four Gentlemen (or Four Noble Ones) and represents the spring season.
~~~
穿過車馬喧嘩
傾聆心底的寂靜
青山幽谷
有香風流如此，
卻從無一個字。
~~~
Side view
Another side view
Close-up view of the embedded bowl
Top view of the bowl
Back view
Information...
April 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Lunardon: First Time Ever I Saw An Alien
In recent years, I like to carry a small camera with me whenever I travel or visit a gallery. This is so that I can capture the moment when I first encounter the work of an artist whom I subsequently follow or collect.
In an earlier post (‘Alien Come Home’), I wrote about getting my first Massimo Lunardon alien. Looking back, it was actually this white hanging alien that first...
6 tags
Chihuly At Halcyon Gallery: Niijima Floats
Take a glass Float out of the Sunset Boat or Mille Fiori garden, and it is immediately transformed to look like an outsized Japanese porcelain ball/egg!
March 2012
9 posts
7 tags
Barbini: Rose Seppie Aquarium
D and I chanced upon this beautiful pair of seppie when visiting Pauly & C.’s administrative office on the island of Murano. It was the first rose-colored acquario we had ever seen from Barbini, so we were initially unsure how it would look next to our collection.
Luisa who was our lovely host knew us better. “Let’s try this angle”, she took the heavy glass block and...
7 tags
Chihuly At Halcyon Gallery: Sunset Boat
Was it a coincidence that a Sunset Boat was also installed the last time Chihuly exhibited publicly in the United Kingdom, purportedly at Chatsworth in 2006?
Looking at the boat, one could easily fall in love with the overflowing glass Reeds and Belugas, the speckled Floats, and the saturated yellows, oranges and reds. While I appreciated the origin of the Boat idea, it was definitely a welcomed...
5 tags
Lunardon: How To Unbox A Small Green Alien
Step 1: Cut open the box flaps.
Step 2: Remove the compression moulded foam padding.
Step 3: Pick up the poor chap!
6 tags
Chihuly At Park Lane: Torchlight Chandelier
It was a clear sunny day when D and I arrived at The Dorchester Hotel just off the side of Hyde Park. Our mission: to check out Chihuly’s latest public art which was unveiled in January to coincide with the London exhibition at New Bond Street.
According to the Halcyon Gallery website, the sculpture is 6 metres tall, weighs 635 kilos and consists of 350 individual elements. On the ground,...
6 tags
Quinn At Tate Liverpool: Morphology
It was a lovely surprise to see Marc Quinn’s glass work lying on the gallery floor at Tate Liverpool. I have admired his gigantic Orchid sculptures and Iris paintings but this 1996 work captivated me in a different way.
The accompanying wall label read:
“Several body parts are recognisable in this piece… It suggests a life-sized figure which has dissolved into, or is being...
10 tags
Barbini: Clear Seppie Aquarium
D and I are in love with Alfredo Barbini’s clear jellyfishes ever since we saw a magnificent glass block in Murano island some years ago. So when we first spotted this lovely sculpture in Pauly San Marco, our immediate thought was to ask for some meduse.
Strangely over the next couple of days in Venice, our minds kept wandering back to this pair of gold speckled cuttlefishes. We watched...
6 tags
Chihuly At Halcyon Gallery: Waterford Sconces
Sconces are rare in Dale Chihuly’s body of work, so it was a treat to see a pair installed side by side at the London exhibition.
What was truly unique about this pair was the use of Waterford crystal made originally for the ‘Chihuly Over Venice’ project in 1995. Up close, the sconces sparkled brilliantly due to the crystal cutting while maintaining the organic form often found...
6 tags
Chihuly At Halcyon Gallery: Main Entrance
Kudos to Halcyon Gallery for adding new Chihuly pieces during the London exhibition and for bringing in a boat which I was smitten with.
Two very different displays for the main entrance to the gallery. Which do you prefer?
Between 5 Dec 2011 to 12 Feb 2012: Four sets of Maize Persians
Between 19 Feb 2012 to 21 Apr 2012: A Sunset Boat
PS/ For more information and photos on the Sunset Boat,...
6 tags
Lunardon: A Curious Tale Of Three Aliens
Last November, D and I commissioned an art piece based on a photo of Massimo Lunardon’s sitting alien as shown in Glasstress 2011. It was an anxious wait and I must say the final outcome was most unexpected.
See if you could spot the difference.
Alien 1: What was promised (photo from Berengo Studio)
Alien 2: What was made and accepted (photo from Berengo Studio)
Alien 3: What was...
February 2012
3 posts
5 tags
Lunardon: How To Unbox An Alien
Step 1: Get ready your tools.
Step 2: Unscrew front panel of wooden crate.
Step 3: Cut along the lines to open box.
Step 4: Remove foam packaging.
5 tags
Chihuly At Halcyon Gallery: Chandeliers (Updated)
Fans of Dale Chihuly’s chandeliers were treated to three stunning installations at Halcyon Gallery exhibition, of which one was a rare two-tier chandelier!
Dusky Sky Chandelier behind right-hand window
Cranberry and Clear Chandelier behind left-hand window
Cranberry and Clear Chandelier (close-up): Beautiful accent colours.
Gold and Quartz Tiered Chandelier upper-tier (view from...
5 tags
Chihuly At Halcyon Gallery: Mille Fiori Gardens
It was an ambitious first exhibition for Dale Chihuly by Halcyon Gallery, held in a large airy multistorey shop house at New Bond Street, London. At last count, there were more than 50 works on display at any one time.
A much talked-about installation was the 24-feet long Mille Fiori garden conceived specially for this exhibition. To experience the garden, visitors had to take a grand indoor...
December 2011
4 posts
6 tags
Chihuly: Flowers Of Como (Updated)
I was very much in awe when I first stood at the lobby of Bellagio Hotel staring up to Dale Chihuly’s Fiori di Como. According to wikipedia, this chandelier is by far the largest glass sculpture in the world since it covers 20,000 square feet of the lobby ceiling. In my view, I think it is also the best-known piece of art glass in the world.
It was about noon when D and I arrived at the...
6 tags
Lunardon: Alien Come Home
I met my first alien back in September 2010.
D and I were on our way to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and we kind of stumbled into a Berengo Studio Gallery at Calle Nuova Sant’Agnese. The tiny gallery was manned by a friendly and knowledgeable Stefano Gritti and we made polite conversation about the few large alien sculptures on display. At that time, I had never heard of...
7 tags
Memories Of Glasstress 2011 Part II
Glasstress 2011 was held from 4th June to 27th November as a collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennale. This year’s theme was on “the complex relationship that ties art, design and architecture together”.
Part II - The Venice Collection
Exhibition site
Nawa Kohei - Pixcell Emu (2008)
Tokujin Yoshioka - Water Block (2002)
Yutaka Sone - Every Snowflake Has A Different...
9 tags
Memories Of Glasstress 2011 Part I
I really admire Adriano Berengo for his tireless effort in promoting contemporary art glass, so I want to start this journal with my good memories of Glasstress 2011 which D and I visited in November.
Glasstress 2011 was held in two contrasting locations: the Berengo Centre for Contemporary Art and Glass in Murano and Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti in Venice. There were so many good pieces on exhibit...
