Let there be light.
And there was light, at the Penticton Art Gallery, and it was good.
Yesterday saw the debut of the gallery’s latest large-scale exhibit, Immaculate Refraction, by artist Bentley Meeker.
“What I try to thread through most of my work is heightening a viewer’s relationship to light,” said Meeker. “The relationship we have to light is very transactional. It’s visibility and energy efficiency, and there’s so much more, there’s so much spirit and soul in light. I want people to question their relationship with light. “
Last month, the exhibit was on display in New York, where Meeker lives. All of the art had to be disassembled and packed up, some of it impossible to replicate. Part of the exhibit is a light show that echoes the twisting figures of the Northern Lights, the display in Penticton one-of-a-kind due to how the art is made.
“We use these special lasers, which they don’t make anymore, and we shine them through a water bottle that we crunch up.” Meeker grabbed a nearby glass bottle and held it up, pointing down on the counter with his other hand. “You see that? That is every strand of colour and light being refracted at once. What we have in there are just two colours, out of millions, refracted through the plastic.”
Take a tour of the exhibit and take in the reflected lightscapes in the main exhibit hall. And for you Simpsons lovers, don’t forget the bottled aurora borealis, at this time of year, at any time of day, located entirely within the Penticton Art Gallery. And yes, you may see it.
To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.
<p<
@PentictonNews newstips@pentictonwesternnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
