Great Grass and Glass in the Bronx: The New York Botanical Garden and Chihuly

Most suburban drugs dealers know to go to the Bronx for the best grass. Yet, most suburbanites don't know the grass is greener in the Bronx too. The New York Botanical Garden is an oasis of green well-groomed trees, natural pathways and water spots that rivals any art man can hope to create. Dale Chihuly's current exhibit among the lush vibrant 250 acres of this Bronx euphoric setting places many sculptures in the landscape and many in the to-die-for 1889 glass conservatory and other buildings. Can man made art compete with nature's creator?

The neon work by Dale on the left obviously looks best at night but the mechanical boxes as do most of Chihuly's structures seem to take away from the art works.

The MET Museum has a similar dilemma with nature. The roof top at the MET is one of the premier exhibiting spots in NYC, any artist would sleep with any curator necessary to show outdoor sculpture there. However, once up high on the roof of the MET you can not help but see the amazing display of nature's grand painting. Whenever I am up there I am dazzled by the scenery and thus the art plays second fiddle or at best 4th violin. The New York Botanical Garden's setting provides a similarly hard to beat background. How does Chihuly stand up to the competition?

In this work and several others Chihuly does integrate with nature beautifully.

Dale is a force and the first name that comes to most minds of a who's who in the glass art world. He has given it all to his craft including an eye. As Peter Voulkos is to clay so is Dale to glass. His glass sculpture does not compete with nature with a blind eye to nature as most of the MET's roof top art seems to, but instead embraces and attempts to integrate, highlight and expand upon her form. He is an innovator in the field and makes us think of more than a morning juice glass when we think of fused sand and coke, no Pepsi.

Chihuly's art works are playful, colorful, use light to the best advantages and naturally takes on a surreal quality-who thinks of glass as surviving an outdoor environment? Actually glass is the preferred material for outdoor sculpture, just don't throw any stones. While I was at the exhibit you could not miss the crew fixing one of the major pieces. The strong wind storm that ran through the city earlier in the week damaged one of the mesmerizing works and the team was hard at work adding replacement parts. Indeed trying to imagine how these works are even shippable and the breakage that must ensue is daunting. The process of glass making is no different and the liquefied molten mass droops as your work it; wait a few seconds too long and the work is ruined. These are the challenges artists long for, the hoops they like to jump threw and in the end produces amazing works of art.

Is Dale's work extraordinary, is it particularly challenging in today's art world where what was new yesterday seems like grandpa's work of 60 years ago? No. But Dale broke ground and opened doors for many artists. He is a creative force and his drawings on view show the hand of a true and sincere artist and bring Jeff Koons's early drawings to mind- the only work by Koons I feel compelling. The prints in the gift shop seem less exciting, predictable and dated. And yes, some of the glass works seems like 'nice' safe art for someones 80's suburban wall unit still un-renovated by Jonathan and Drew Scott.
The Bronx is the place to go to get the good grass, see some impressive glass before the show closes on October 29 and walk among nature to get back to who you are. I hope you like what you find. .....Naturally head a few minutes away to Arthur Avenue afterwards and eat at Dominicks. Start with the anti-pasta salad and from there watch the food as it passes your table and point and say, I'll have that.

Photographs by Dr. Wendy Frauchiger
https://www.nybg.org/
http://restaurantsnapshot.com/Dominicks/