NORFOLK, VA — "Dan Dailey: Character Sketch," an exhibition of Dailey’s figurative work opened Friday, February 21. The work will be on view at The Chrysler Museum of Art until November 29. The Chrysler-curated show features 33 works that span four decades of the artist’s career. Carolyn and Richard Barry Curator of Glass Carolyn Swan Needell has written a catalog to accompany the exhibition. Subjective and narrative in nature, Dailey’s work is “inspired by the human character and based upon his direct observation of the world,” reads the exhibition announcement. The artist "articulates his perceptions and thoughts about humanity through the medium of glass, pushing the material to new frontiers in order to tell stories about human nature," the announcement continues. The exhibition includes blown and hot-worked glass vases and sculpture, glass cane murals, wall reliefs made from Vitrolite (industrial colored glass), as well as his original drawings.
“Dan’s work really can’t be mistaken for the work of any other artist. The message and execution of his work is simply unique. This holds true for his over 40-year career: works made in the 1980s connect strikingly well to work made last year in 2019, in both aesthetics and meaning.”
Since 1971, Dailey has participated in over 300 group, juried, and invitational exhibitions, and has had numerous one-person museum and gallery exhibits including a major retrospective at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, and a recent installation at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. When asked if his work has been represented before in the way that the Chrysler Museum is recognizing and exhibiting his works, Dailey says, “Carolyn Needell has a thesis that she has put forth as far as my work is concerned. She wanted to focus on that and is not showing the illuminated works. She made deliberate selections and has rationale for each. Her take on it is different and my work has not been exhibited in this way before.”
Dailey will return to the Chrysler Museum May 6 – 9 for a glassblowing workshop with Perry Glass Studio Manager Robin Rogers and artist Richard Royal. Carolyn Needell will give a gallery talk about the exhibition April 4.
UPDATE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, events associated with “Dan Dailey: Character Sketch” will be postponed until further notice. The exhibition will remain installed until November 29.