June 10, 2010 | 12:39 pm

Chihuly:  Looks Cool on Google.. and in Israel?

Posted by Melanie Reynard

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Image taken from Noor's Daily Blog & Art Zone: http://1.bp.blogspot.com /_qUFDMUpk9jE/S8Fjm8iC1WI/AAAAAAAAgdg/gdyNPtFPYT4/s1600/ Chihuly_in_Israel_by_photoboy1002001.jpg

Recently you may have noticed that Google changed their homepage by setting a customizable background image – just like Microsoft’s Bing.

But recently, reports said that because of this huge change of Google’s homepage, the world of art has changed too. Thanks to Google, more and more people are now searching or viewing stunning arts and photographs from different artists like Jeff Koons and Dale Chihuly. Dale Chihuly has been featured on Google Editor’s Pick for his best known artwork, the giant half inflated metallic modeling balloons. Jeff Koons is also at the Editor’s Pick with his stunning photos.

  (according to the blog birdabble.com.)

As of now, Jeff Koons and Dale Chihuly can probably be declared as the most viewed artists of all time, thanks to Google.

Chihuly is not Jewish, but Chihuly’s work does have a strong tie to Israel.  The following is from the artist’s website:

Chihuly was drawn to Israel after a brief visit in the summer of 1997, and was struck by its importance as the birthplace of both glassmaking and glassblowing. Early glass works found in Israel strongly resemble Chihuly’s organic forms. He hopes to create artworks that are both an homage to the ancient glass traditions of the Middle East and an impetus to revitalize glassmaking in the area. As in his other projects, Chihuly will collaborate with glassblowers from the region, both Israeli and Palestinian, to produce a portion of the glass parts for his sculptures. This message of coexistence is particularly suited to the Citadel’s mission to recount objectively and fairly all the periods of Jerusalem’s history.

His 1999 millennium celebration was: Chihuly In The Light Of Jerusalem 2000. This massive undertaking produced 17 installations in the ancient city, followed by the creation of a 60-foot wall of ice made of 24 giant blocks imported from Alaska. These installations were viewed by more than one million people. (Noor’s Daily Smile & Art Zone)

I personally was first exposed to Chihuly in 2008 while living in San Francisco and his work was exhibited at the De Young Museum.  This review by Kristin Farr for KQED: Arts & Culture, is by far the most playful and appropriate description of his work.