Hunter Museum of American Art

One of the best things about my job as curator is getting the chance to work with artists. So, it was a particular pleasure for me to interact with the artists during the installation of Jellies: Living Art at the Tennessee Aquarium. This exhibition focuses on jellyfish and studio glass (housed in separate cases!) created through a collaboration between the Hunter and the Aquarium.

Cork Marcheschi created an installation called Liquid Luminous Secrets for the larger version of this show at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we brought that exhibit to Chattanooga. It consists of clear glass vessels that have different types of gases (argon or neon, for example) pumped into them. They then flicker with a seemingly magical glow. However, that “magic” is really the result of the years of experience. Cork knows how to vary the size of the chamber into which the gas is pumped, what gas to use to create what color, and how much gas to pump in each work to create the desired result. It is a complicated mix of variables. And it was fascinating to hear him talk about it.

Stephen Rolfe Powell’s four large Screamer vessels require very precise lighting. Stephen feels that the best way to light his works is to bounce a bright white light off the wall behind his works. In order to achieve this we had to make some changes to the case we built for his work. We had to get different lights (spots rather than floods) and to change the position of the lights so that they shone more directly behind the works rather than above them. The changes in lighting made a huge difference to the display.

For several years now, Tommy Spake, who lives in Chattanooga, has made sculptures of jellyfish, inspired by the creatures he saw at the Tennessee Aquarium. For Jellies: Living Art, Tommy created about 35 new sculptures for the show. I believe some of them are the largest jellies he has ever created. They are very delicate works with thin veils of color and each one is unique.

The case devoted to master glass artist Dale Chihuly contains 69 Macchia vessels. They are all from the collection of George R. Stroemple, a collector based in Oregon. Mr. Stroemple’s curator asked that we work with exhibit designer, Graham Graham. Graham blew glass with Chihuly for many years, and actually created a number of the vessels in the Macchia case. (Graham also installed the William Morris exhibit we had in the summer of 2008.)

In addition, Graham oversaw the installation of the Laguna Murano Chandelier at the Hunter. It is a show stopper. It contains five elements (two hanging, three on the floor) and takes up about 1,500 square feet of space in the Hunter galleries. There are about 1,500 pieces to the chandelier, each piece placed individually on metal armatures. Graham brought along three assistants to help install the Macchia and the chandelier. Be sure to see the time lapse video of the installation of the chandelier on our site.

To learn more about all these artists, check out the Aquarium Web site which has video interviews with all four artists. You’ll learn a lot from them; I know I did.

Ellen Simak, Chief Curator