LEO VILLAREAL
Chasing Rainbows
21 FEBRUARY - 20 MARCH 2004
Sandra Gering Gallery is pleased to present the gallery's second
one-person exhibition of work by Leo Villareal from 21 February through 20
March 2004.
The exhibition will feature Chasing Rainbows, an installation of 60
glowing tubes of light, arranged in groups of 20 on the gallery's three
walls. Each tube is filled with thousands of red, green and blue LEDs
that can be individually modulated, producing a possible palette of 16 million
different colors. Villareal manipulates the colors of the tubes through
his own custom software, using both pattern and rhythm to create a mesmerizing
temporal abstraction.
Inspired by mathematician John Conway's Game of Life, Villareal's
software utilizes its own set of rules that govern autonomous agents within a
matrix. As the agents explore their terrain and encounter one another, a
complex system emerges, visually manifesting a larger organism at work. At
times, the resulting abstractions resemble the low-resolution graphics of early
video games; while at other times, the motion suggests something more organic,
like the shimmering surface of water. The layering of multiple systems
manifests in hypnotic optical effects that push and pull the picture plane.
Also on view at PS1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City is Villareal's
Supercluster, a 45 x 120 foot grid of 640 sequenced LED clusters, installed
on the temporary scaffolding at 21st Street and Jackson Avenue.
Upcoming projects by Villareal include a permanent light installation in the
new federal courthouse, El Paso, Texas designed by architect Antoine
Predock. In 2004, Villareal will have solo exhibitions at Conner
Contemporary Art, Washington DC in May/June, and at Galeria Javier Lopez,
Madrid, Spain in November. Villareal's work will also be included in
Visual Music 1905-2005,
a historic survey exhibition organized by curators Kerry Brougher and
Judith Zilczer of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden,
Washington DC and Jeremy Strick and Ari Wiseman of the Los Angeles
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA.
Opening in February 2005 at LA-MOCA, the
exhibition will travel to the Hirshhorn in June of 2005.
