February 24 – April 25 2010
[A solid light film] exists only in the present: the moment of projection. It refers to nothing beyond this real time. It contains no illusion. It is a primary experience, not secondary: i.e., the space is real, not referential; the time is real, not referential…every viewing position presents a different aspect. The viewer therefore has a participatory role in apprehending the event: he or she can, indeed needs, to move around relative to the slowly emerging light form.
Anthony McCall, 1974
Anthony McCall has carved a unique position in contemporary art, bridging the gaps between the cinematic, the sculptural and the pictorial by means of his ‘solid light films’ made by drawing in real space with projected light.
Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light, a major exhibition timed to coincide with the 2010 New Zealand International Arts Festival, exemplifies the Adam Art Gallery’s vision to critically explore how art can move across disciplines, locations, and through time.
The exhibition not only presents McCall’s ‘solid light’ works in the complex and labyrinthine spaces of the Adam Art Gallery, but also offers insights into the full range of his practice from the 1970s to the present, showing drawings, photographs, and notations that record the development of his design process and reveal his work’s philosophical and social intent.
A public programme will offer an expanded context to McCall’s works by investigating his links to the British avant-garde film making community, specifically his association with the London Filmmaker’s Co-operative. It will also elucidate the interplay between the sculptural and the filmic with a screening featuring works by Gordon Matta-Clark, John Smith, Clemens von Wedermeyer and Maya Schweizer.
A highlight of this programme includes the opportunity to view McCall’s first ‘solid light film’, Line Describing a Cone (1973). This will be presented at the Wellington Town Hall, in conjunction with the New Zealand Film Archive, at 7pm on Monday 15 March 2010. This work had the startling effect of shifting film from its image-producing function in time to its sculptural possibilities in space; the consequences of which the artist is still exploring today.
McCall is undertaking a lecture series throughout New Zealand and in Australia. The first will take place in Wellington at the Denis and Verna Adam Auditorium, City Gallery, Wellington at 6pm on Wednesday 24 February 2010. This will be followed by lectures at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth at 6pm on Thursday 25 February; the University of Auckland hosted by Auckland City Council’s Public Art Team at 6pm on Tuesday 2 March, and at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane at 6pm on Thursday 11 March 2010.
This exhibition has been made possible with the generous support of Chartwell Trust; Keystone Trust; David and Libby Richwhite; The Clark Collection; Fulbright New Zealand; Spyglass; Interface; Metro Productions; John Herber Ltd; Auckland City Council Public Art Team; Atlantic Pacific American Express; the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery; the New Zealand Film Archive; LUX, London and the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
If you require further information please contact: Laura Preston
Email: [email protected] Tel: +64 4 463 5229
Anthony McCall was born in 1946 in St Pauls Cray, England. He currently lives and works in New York. Recent exhibitions include: Nu/Now: Anthony McCall, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2009; Anthony McCall Breath [The Vertical Works], Hangar Bicocca, Milan, 2009; Elements for a retrospective 1972-1979/2003-, Musée départmental d’art contemporain de Rochechouart, 2007, Serpentine Gallery, London 2008, and Utzon Centre, Aalborg, 2009; Anthony McCall: ‘Between You and I’ et Autres Films de Lumière Solide, IAC Institut d’Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, 2006-7; Anthony McCall Film Installations, Mead Gallery, University of Warwick, 2004; and Anthony McCall: Films de Lumière Solide, Centre Pompidou/Foundation Antoine de Galbert, Paris, 2004. The artist is represented by Sean Kelly Gallery, New York; Thomas Zander, Cologne and Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris.
The Adam Art Gallery is the university gallery of Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It is a forum for critical thinking about art and its histories as well as the professional structure within which the Victoria University Art Collection is managed. The gallery has built a considerable reputation for its programmes that explore the full range of media available to artists and which aim to test and expand art form and disciplinary boundaries. The gallery is a remarkable architectural statement designed by Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand’s foremost architects.
Adam Art Gallery
Victoria University of Wellington
Gate 3, Kelburn Parade
PO Box 600, Wellington 6140
New Zealand
Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm
FREE ENTRY
+ 64 4 463 5229
[email protected]
http://www.adamartgallery.org.nz