San Francisco: Chihuly Exhibit

 Let me start this post by saying it right off the bat: This art looks ten times better in person than it does in any photo ever taken of it. It truly does. I knew this exhibit was in town but we had decided not to see it because we had not bought tickets in advance and, quite frankly, I wasn't overly impressed with the photos.

 But when we got to the de Young Museum, we decided to ask to see if, by chance, any tickets were available for the current time - and there were! So we bought two and headed down to the basement, where the exhibit was. The basement was a maze of totally black rooms, save for the spotlights on the art itself.

And every room took my breath away. We'd walk around a corner and I would gasp. Unfortunately, I only brought my pocket camera along and it really, really struggled with the low light levels, but in processing the pics this week I was actually pretty happy with the results. The photos aren't perfect, but they are darn good for a pocket camera.

 Here is another amazing room. As you can see, the crowd would enter and stop dead in their tracks, all heads turned upward. This photo does not do the glass justice, but it does give you an idea of the feel.

 There's Nikki to the right. It is amazing how people would just stop and look, for minutes at a time. Words, and photos, cannot describe the beauty.

The artist's name is Dale Chihuly and his website is here. Mark my words, he will go down as one of the great artists of our time. Yes, they look overly ornate and a bit gaudy in photos, but you have to see it to fully appreciate it.

 One thought that kept going through my mind: how do they keep these things clean? Dust must be a real problem!

 But they are absolutely wonderful to look at, especially in the environment provided by de Young in the totally dark rooms save for the well-placed spotlights.

 And these pieces are huge as you can tell in those where I've included persons. I've done that intentionally to give them scale.

 This is one of my favorites....it drew a constant crowd.

 Here is a detail of the object.

 Being a big fan of the color blue, this one also ranks among my favorites. It reminds me of very pure ice crystals.

 Another beauty. Oh what the hell, they are all my favorite!

 And the last room...this one is a little much for me, but it is a showcase for all the shapes and colors that Chihuly likes. Note the person on the left that lends scale to the objects.

A photo of the same objects after my fourth Rum and Coke. Actually, someone bumped my arm but I rather like the result. It actually looks better than the previous picture to me! Anyway, enjoy and if you get the chance SEE A CHIHULY EXHIBIT.