WHITE LIGHT is the third in a trilogy of exhibitions—including post-hypnotic (1999-2001) and The UFO Show (2000-2001)—focusing on visual manifestations of altered states of consciousness.
Whether we are talking about sun and moon worship, the New Testament’s “light of the world,” Eastern religions’ radiances and auras, or the light bulb that pops up above the heads of cartoon characters, light is the oldest and most pervasive visual correlate for attainment and inspiration. In a parallel technological quest, we have over the millennia channeled our awe of celestial and natural phenomena into the creation of light-based technologies and representational devices: from the cultivation of fire to the invention of photography, electric lighting, and cinema, to the more recent cathode ray tube and liquid crystal display.
All visual art is, of course, dependent upon the phenomenology of light—the work in this exhibition, however, calls particular attention to radiance itself as image. In contrast to much of the atmospheric light art made by precursors such as Robert Irwin, Dan Flavin, and James Turrell, the work of the artists presented here is more transgressive and jarring in terms of viewer perception. We are reminded that along with the ecstatic or meditative qualities associated with light, we also have the invasive, disturbing aspects—blinding searchlights, the interrogator’s lamp, the paparazzi’s flash.
Artists: Richard Bloes, Adam Fuss, Christian Garnett, Mark Genrich, Jack Goldstein, Gregory Green, Judy Ledgerwood, Maya Lin, Kathleen McCarty, Carsten Nicolai, Ray Rapp, and Susie Rosmarin.
Curated by Barry Blinderman.
