ART REVIEWS : Little Fire in Chihuly’s New ‘Reeds’

Dale Chihuly’s stunning recent works at Dorothy Goldeen Gallery (and its temporary annex adjacent to the Santa Monica Museum of Art), fall into two categories: the ravishing orbs, scalloped blossoms and shell-like vessels that viewers have come to expect from the Seattle-based master of glass, and a new series of spike-like “Reeds” that resemble giant, upside-down icicles sticking out of the floor and reaching almost to the ceiling.

In bright reddish-orange, with bluish-purple tips, Chihuly’s “Reeds” seem to be modeled on the sinuous flames sometimes painted on old hot rods. But the artist’s skinny new pieces, ranging from 4 to 8 feet tall, pack little of the heat that usually radiates from his sexy sculptures.

The problem with the unresolved “Reeds” is that they’re too much like drawings and not enough like paintings. Drawn in space, as if each were a straight, vertical mark, these pieces do not create, enfold or embrace space as much as they pierce it.

In Chihuly’s other shamelessly decorative, surprisingly painterly works, undulating planes of color take the place of sharp, linear elements.

Appearing to be swirling fields and organic patterns that have mysteriously drifted free of their canvas supports, these exquisitely fragile pieces more effectively command the space around them. Dazzling the eye and delighting the mind, their strength resides in their capacity to seduce you with beauty.

* Dorothy Goldeen Gallery, 2224 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 399- 4489, through Jan. 27. Closed Sundays and Mondays.