Light Installations

Fluorescent tubes, LED circuitry, projections and digital animation transform light into both material and subject in an exhibition spanning several generations of contemporary artists. On view November 5 through April 3 at The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Light Installations brings together works by Doug Aitken, Dan Flavin, Iván Navarro, Jennifer Steinkamp, Leo Villareal and others. The exhibition traces varied approaches to working with illumination, from Flavin’s gridded fluorescent sculpture Untitled (A tribute to Harold Joachim 2) to Villareal’s Column 6, which uses programmed sequences of light to evoke patterns found in nature. Navarro’s works draw on modernist design while introducing associations with power and displacement, including Silla Electrica Azul Y Roja (Electric Chair Blue And Red) and the video-and-light installation Flashlight: I Am Not From Here, I Am Not From There (purple). Digital projection also plays a central role, including Steinkamp’s Dervish 2, an animated tree whose swirling movement draws parallels between natural forms, technology and the meditative spinning of dervishes. The exhibition highlights how artists use light to shape…