Light Codes at 1053 Gallery

FLEISCHMANNS — 1053 Gallery is pleased to present Light Codes, a group photography exhibition organized by Lindsay Comstock. On view December 9, 2023 through February 25, 2024, with a public reception December 9, 2024, from 4 to 7pm, the exhibition brings together works by 12 artists who use photographic processes and the language of light to transport viewers into new realms.

Photography, derived from the words photo and graphein literally means to write with light. Roland Barthes, in his seminal text, Camera Lucida, admitted his fascination with photography had something to do with his fascination with death, the subject of the photograph representing that which no longer exists. All of the works in the exhibition play with this notion, but rather than documenting a moment, they serve to bridge the gap between the form and formlessness and reality and fantasy.

Jessica Eaton’s Pictures for Women are an homage to female artists, in this case, Tomma Abts and Hilma af Klint, the motion-blur of color creating a dance of form; Don Freeman’s Communicating Vessels, Pompeii and Bamboo use layered photographic processes to suggest realms of sleep and wakefulness, reality and delusion, reason and madness and the connection between man and nature; Claire Gilliam’s Blue Woman series contemplates mortality and the fragility of the human form; Emily Johnston’s work examines the process of photography through the medium of drawing to challenge the notion of the decisive moment; Parker Manis’ work uses photo papers and emulsion to represent the sanguine nature of war and the layered reflection of the viewer within the piece; Brendan Pattengale’s large-scale prints give landscape photography a new dimension as he watches the way light shifts over time and recreates the chromatic effect; Kate Quarfordt’s Sun Glifs are symbols for a new light language as seen on city buildings and sidewalks; Kathleen Sweeney’s Solar Power series depicts the prismatic refractions and energy lines working through quotidian objects; Dan Tapia’s Orb Girl originated from a dream that later manifested in his reality; Caroll Taveras’ photo-based collages bring her visions and dreams into fragmented form; and a special installation by Monte Wilson and Lindsay Comstock is a mind-bending altar to the living photograph.

At a point when photography has long been a ubiquitous medium, serving as an often-instantaneous reminder of existence, the exhibition looks to artists who are relating to photographic processes and tools for capturing light that ask new questions: How might the medium be looked at as a language of its own? What happens when photography and photo materials go beyond the moment to further bend time and reality? How might the language of captured light provide a portal into unseen dimensions of healing during this time of global upheaval? 

The gallery will host sound baths and artist talks to accompany the exhibition.