Chihuly at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Published by Portland Press, Seattle
2005 hardcover, 7¾ x 10 inches
160 pages, 102 color reproductions
ISBN 1-57684-153-7
$35.00 USD
Order now for early September 2005 delivery.
For his first botanical garden exhibition outside of the United States,
Dale Chihuly indulges his perpetual fascination with glasshouses by
installing an elaborate collection of glass at the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew. Inside grand Victorian conservatories and amongst outdoor plant
collections, these twenty-five installations come together to transform
completely the 132-hectare (some 325 acres) World Heritage Site.
Elaborate orange and yellow Asymmetrical Towers accent the entrance
to Kew’s elegant Palm House and a brilliant Sun adorns the modern
Princess of Wales Conservatory. Brightly colored Walla Wallas rest in
an outdoor lake and graceful Herons rise from a calm waterlily pond.
Many other works nestle within planting beds to surprise visitors expecting
to see purely botanical beauty. Altogether, these vivid colors and otherworldly
shapes placed against Kew’s magnificent landscape make the Gardens
of Glass: Chihuly at Kew exhibition a captivating and memorable
experience.
Chihuly at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew features more than one hundred photographs that capture this event and Chihuly’s previous exhibitions in locations around the world. The book also contains a chronicle of the rich history of the gardens and the evolution of its design over the centuries, while an an essay by Todd Alden gives conceptual insight into the exhibition.
Todd Alden is a writer and artist living in New York whose work frequently examines or practices the art of collecting. He has written books with or about Ted Donald, René Magritte, Tom Sachs, Sonic Youth, and Cindy Sherman (unpublished to date) and has published essays on Artists’ Ephemera, Marcel Broodthaers, New York Dada, Lot-Ek, Werner Panton, Real Photo Postcards, Sophie Calle, Bricolage, and the legacy of Gordon Pym. He is currently working on a book on Belgian gastronomy.
