(Seattle, Washington) April 15, 2020 – Chihuly Studio is pleased to announce Chihuly Merletto, the newest collection of work from artist Dale Chihuly. The work will debut at Traver Gallery in Seattle, Washington, on June 4, 2020. The exhibition, also titled Chihuly Merletto, will be available digitally at travergallery.com, and will run through August 1, 2020. A behind the scenes look at the making of this collection can be viewed here. Known as a pioneer of the studio glass movement in America, Chihuly’s latest body of work expands on his record of innovation and invention. 

The exhibition will present works in glass and drawings which reveal Chihuly’s creative process. This collection of work started to take shape in 2019 when he began experimenting with an ancient caneworking technique called merletto (the Italian word for lace), Chihuly’s inspiration for the collection’s name. A labor-intensive and complex process, merletto was developed on the Italian island of Murano in the 15th century. The artist’s approach to Chihuly Merletto departs from the precision of the classic Venetian technique and relays an expressive energy to his mesh-like patterns. His first foray into the process integrates opaque white cane to his iconic Basket series and references early Basket Drawings which Chihuly created with bundles of pencils to capture the three-dimensional form on paper.

“Chihuly Merletto mimics the feel of lace, the way it moves and drapes easily into soft forms,” said Dale Chihuly, “It’s a natural evolution of my Basket series. My aim with Chihuly Merletto was to capture the movement of lace in the glass.”

Leslie Chihuly, CEO of Chihuly Studio stated, “This body of work is a great example of how Dale has always worked and how he continues to explore the medium of glass and stretch his vocabulary…new ideas, old techniques, playing with the illusion of intricate lace within asymmetrical Basket forms.”

Chihuly Studio wishes everyone health and safety. We continue to look to the future with optimism and gratitude for what art and beauty can do to inspire and heal. It is with this sentiment that we are excited to share this new work.

To schedule a private viewing please contact Traver Gallery at 206.587.6501, or Allison Kramer, Chihuly Studio Manager, Private Client Services at 206.279.2837. The complete digital catalog can be found here.

About Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly is an American artist noted for revolutionizing the studio glass movement and elevating perceptions of the glass medium. Known for ambitious architectural installations in cities, museums, and gardens around the world, Chihuly utilizes a variety of media to realize his creative vision, including glass, paint, charcoal, neon, ice, and Polyvitro. Chihuly’s work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum and Corning Museum of Glass. Major exhibitions include Chihuly Over Venice (1995-96), Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem (1999), de Young Museum in San Francisco (2008), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2011), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (2012), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada (2013), Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada (2016), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas (2017), Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands (2018), and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, U.K (2019). Chihuly Garden and Glass, a long-term exhibition located at the Seattle Center, opened in 2012.

About Traver Gallery

For more than 40 years, the Traver Gallery has served as a theater for the visual arts, providing space for artists to explore their ideas and share their discoveries with the world. We are dedicated to representing artists at all stages of their career — emerging, mid-career and established — our focus is on artists who work with materials in unique and innovative ways. Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, Traver Gallery is one of the country’s premier exhibition spaces for contemporary studio glass, painting, sculpture, and installation art.