Chihuly Black

By Louise Irvine

In July, we start recreating our Hot Glass Gallery in the new Hollywood museum and during the planning stages we have been exploring various aspects of our Chihuly collection. Among Arthur Wiener’s first acquisitions are some Macchia forms from the Chihuly Black series which the artist launched with an exhibition and book in 2008. We were struck by Chihuly’s dramatic use of black to intensify the color contrasts in his work and strengthen the sculptural effects of his Macchia.

Black is not on the visible spectrum of color as any rainbow will show. Black is the absence of light and all other colors are reflections of light. Technically speaking, black and white are shades and they augment colors. However, like colors they evoke feelings such as the mysterious dark color of the night which has long fascinated Dale Chihuly. Black glass can transmit or reflect light in different ways from transparent hues.

In glassmaking history, blackness was a result of ingredients such as iron oxide which was added to strengthen the glass but made green and amber glass appear black. Thick black glass bottles were practical as they were less breakable and the dark color prevented the contents from light exposure and spoiling.

Chihuly is renowned as a colorist and he once claimed, “I’m obsessed with color – never saw one I didn’t like.” Typically, he emphasized the translucency of glass in his works. It may seem something of a contradiction that he began to experiment with opaque black glass in 2006 but his use of high-intensity colors has created jewel-like tones which glow in their own inner brilliance. Chihuly has combined gemstone colors like lapis, ruby, and emerald with jet black and blue black and defined the forms with contrasting linear lip wraps. He also created startling combinations of tangerine and lime with highly-polished black glass.

The Chihuly Black series was launched with an accompanying book at the Diane Farris Gallery in 2008. For over 25 years, this Vancouver gallery was a mecca for contemporary art enthusiasts. Chihuly was a regular exhibitor and in 1998, he grabbed international headlines when he spontaneously began painting in the gallery’s front windows. Rotating presentations of Chihuly glass became a feature of the gallery windows until it closed in 2011. Arthur Wiener acquired a selection of black Macchia vessels which had been featured in this elegant and sophisticated show and they now form part of our glorious garden of glass.