Leo Villareal: ?Digital Sublime?

Wednesdays-Thursdays: 12-6pm

Fridays: 12-9pm

Saturday-Sunday: 12-6pm

Monday-Tuesdays: Closed (Will be open Tuesday, Oct. 29^th)
A pioneer in the use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and computer-driven imagery, Leo Villareal is renowned for both his light wall sculptures and architectural, site-specific works ranging from “Multiverse,” the installation in the Concourse Walkway connecting the East and West Wings of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (2008), to his current project, the spectacular illumination of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. Using computer code and his own custom software, Villareal programs thousands of LEDs to produce abstract works of art. The results, ranging from luminous, hypnotic fields of expansive color to complex, mesmerizing patterns of light, explore not only on the effects of pattern and sequencing, but the underlying structure of systems. Inspired by mathematician John Conway’s work with cellular automata and the Game of Life, Villareal deploys pixels, zeros and ones in binary code to build sequences that move, change, interact and ultimately grow into complex organisms. Chance and emergent behavior are central to his work, as well as the expansive notions of beauty, time and the sublime. This exhibition features three of the artist’s signature wall sculptures or kinetic light “paintings” from major private collections and the artist’s studio.