Neon sculpture
Neon sculpture
Artist
Dale Chihuly
(born 1941)
Artist
James Carpenter
(born 1949)
Date1969-1971
MediumHand-blown colored glass, neon, argon, and electrical components
Dimensions13 x 36 x 21 in. (33 x 91.4 x 53.3 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.21
Accession number
2012.21
On View
Not on viewLabel TextDale Chihuly was caught up in the excitement of the expanding American Studio Glass movement as early as 1965, and began experimenting with neon and argon in his hand-blown vessels as early as 1967. This neon sculpture, made in the late 1960s, combines the uniqueness of artisan-blown glass with the sinuous line of the draughtsman, blurring the line between art and craft; tradition and experimentation. The use of neon illumination further blurs these increasingly fluid lines, removing both the materiality of the craft object and the literalness of the line drawing.
From the late sixties, Chihuly steadily moved away from the discreet object of the studio glass movement and embraced collaboration, large-scale installation, and experimentation. This work captures a moment in which the sculpture still lies within the vessel form of the artisan tradition, but also embraces experimentation with internal illumination typical of many sculptors in the 1960s.
