Tate Modern opens an exhibition of 'solid light' installations by Anthony McCall
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, December 24, 2024


Tate Modern opens an exhibition of 'solid light' installations by Anthony McCall
Anthony McCall installation view of Doubling Back, 2003, Tate Modern, 2024. Photo © Tate (Josh Croll).



LONDON.- Tate Modern presents an exhibition of ‘solid light’ installations by British-born, US-based artist Anthony McCall (b. 1946). An early pioneer of experimental cinema and installation art, McCall is known for his material film installations where projected light is visibly enhanced using a thin mist to produce solid light forms, bringing together film, sculpture, and drawing. Visitors are invited to interact with each of the four solid light works, offering an unforgettable immersive encounter. The exhibition also includes film, photography and archive material documenting McCall's extraordinary practice.

McCall’s practice developed during his early career in the early 1970s when he was involved in London’s independent film community. Tate Modern’s exhibition features photographs and film footage of the artist’s earliest performances, including the significant Landscape for Fire 1972, which depicts a carefully choreographed sequence performed outdoors: uniformed participants from the art collective Exit light fires in a geometric grid formation against a soundtrack of foghorns, wind, and burning. Contrasting the unpredictability of nature with mathematical order, the work speaks to McCall’s developing conceptual interest in shape and movement. The exhibition also includes early works like Room with Altered Window 1973, demonstrating the artist’s increasing interest in light and architectural interventions.

In 1973, McCall moved to New York and began exploring the boundaries between sculpture and film. Inspired by the shaft of light that radiated from film projectors, he developed an idea which would invert the rules of cinema: inviting the audience to turn around and face the source of the light rather than the screen. This led to the conception of the first of McCall’s solid light works: Line Describing a Cone 1973. The work, which was acquired by Tate in 2005, is the first solid light work visitors encounter in this exhibition. Created using a film projector and 16-millimetre film, the work begins with a thin pencil of light shone onto a wall. Across 30 minutes, the outline of a circle is slowly ‘drawn’ on the wall, casting a cone of light from the projector through the space. Although deceptively simple, this work considers the nature of film itself: focusing on the shape of light, not just the traces it casts. Included in the exhibition are sketches and photographs of McCall’s original plans for this work.

Towards the end of the 1970s, McCall withdrew from making art and was not to return to his practice until the dawn of the new millennium, attracted by the artistic potential that emerging technology promised. Haze machines could improve visibility of the works by adding mist to the air giving solid light works a more tactile quality. Digital projectors meanwhile offered new possibilities; no-longer tied to the 4:3 aspect ratio of analogue projectors, McCall was able to realise more complicated forms, experimenting with ‘travelling waves’ to transform pockets of space inside the solid light works. Shown in the exhibition is the ambitious Doubling Back 2003, McCall’s first work to reimagine the solid light concept for the 21st century. Face to Face 2013 sees the possibilities developed further; its projected forms interlock, allowing the viewer to paradoxically look towards the projector and a screen to see the footprint of the form they are within.

The exhibition culminates with one of the artist’s latest works, Split-Second Mirror, 2018. Using a mirror to interrupt a plane of light, the work is perhaps McCall’s most visually complex to date, continuing to push the possibilities of reinterpreting sculptural space using cinematic devices.










Today's News

June 27, 2024

Diamonds in the Rough: Rocks in Landscape Paintings at Jill Newhouse Gallery through July 31

Tiffany lamps, glitterling jewels and an antique Wurlitzer music machine were crowd-pleasers at Morphy's

Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. announces results of Automobilia, Petroliana & Advertising auction

Hake's to auction world-renowned Jeff Jacob action figure collection starting in January 2025

Hidden under George Washington's home: 35 glass bottles of cherries

The Lenbachhaus restitutes a silver sculpture from the former collection of Dr Max Meirowsky

Ancient shipwreck preserves a deep Bronze-Age time capsule

A court ruled an exhibit discriminated against men. Now it's in the women's restroom.

Chus Martínez appointed Artistic Director of the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts

Berlinische Galerie exhibits works by the winner of the Hannah Höch Prize 2024

South London Gallery opens a solo exhibition by Dominican American artist Firelei Báez

Flock to the Natural History Museum's "Birds: Brilliant & Bizarre"

London's Kew Gardens has long links to Japan. Now the Emperor is set to visit.

'I might be real-life good at this': Shooting for Broadway at the Jimmy Awards

Eric Hazan, publisher and historian on France's left, dies at 87

Seth Binzer, Crazy Town's lead singer, 'Shifty Shellshock,' dies at 49

Fundación La Nave Salinas opens Mai Blanco's first institutional exhibition

Tate Modern opens an exhibition of 'solid light' installations by Anthony McCall

Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection achieves £465,192 at Christie's

High Museum announces curatorial promotions

Pace opens the first solo exhibition of works by Latifa Echakhch in Asia

Exhibition at Joan B Mirviss LTD focuses on contemporary masters of Hagi and Oribe

pascALEjandro joins BLUM

Russell Morash, 'This Old House' and 'The French Chef' producer, dies at 88

Exploring the AI Tool for 'This Person Does Not Exist'

The Ultimate Guide to Custom Keychains: Personalize Your Accessories

Your Expert Pet Guide




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
(52 8110667640)

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful