ART REVIEW : ‘Tutti, Putti’ Explores Possibilities of Glass

In “Tutti Putti,” an exhibition of spectacular blown glass pieces by Seattle artist Dale Chihuly on view at the Pence Gallery in Santa Monica, an art form currently out of vogue is given a new lease on life. Once hailed as the noblest of crafts, glass has degenerated into the province of cheap souvenirs and strictly utilitarian objects--you might admire beautiful glassware on a dinner table, but it’s certainly not considered high art worthy of a gallery exhibition. This show, however, makes a strong case for the notion that glass has the same range of possibilities as paint and canvas. Chihuly has been taking glass into uncharted territory for the past 27 years, and he’s really outdone himself with this body of work.

Revolving around the form of the putti--small, chubby male cherubs common to Baroque art--this work is wonderfully over the top. Unabashedly sexual, decadent and occasionally a bit kitsch, the work explodes with an irreverent humor one rarely sees in art rooted in the world of crafts. (When was the last time a rug or a basket made you laugh out loud?) Chihuly couches his fresh point of view in dazzlingly flashy displays of technique, and the 14 pieces on view are all extravagantly big and colorful. Chihuly has an unerring sense of showmanship, and the work in this exhibition really lives up to its title--this is rock ‘n’ roll glass.

Pence Gallery , 908 Colorado Blvd., Santa Monica , to May 25 , (213) 393-8864. Closed Sundays and Mondays.