Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light

Anthony McCall, Installation view of Breath (The Vertical Works) at Hangar Bicocca, Milan, 2009 (Photograph: Giulio Buono). Courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.

[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. No longer is one viewing position as good as any other…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 is a key figure in the history of avant-garde cinema. He has carved a unique position in contemporary art by bridging the gaps between the cinematic, the sculptural and the pictorial by means of his extraordinary ‘solid light’ films, which manifest as immersive installations made by drawing in real space with projected light.

The Adam Art Gallery is bringing McCall and his ‘solid light films’ to New Zealand for the first time. Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light, a major exhibition timed to coincide with the 2010 New Zealand International Arts Festival, will be an opportunity to experience McCall’s ‘solid light ’ installations in the complex and labyrinthine spaces of the Adam Art Gallery, and will offer insights into the full range of his output and working process showing a range of drawings, films and photographic works produced across the entire history of his practice.

A public programme of artist talks, film screenings, and discussion will expand on the exhibition to place the works of this British-born, New York-based artist in context.

A highlight of this programme includes the one-off opportunity to view Line Describing a Cone (1973), McCall’s first ‘solid light film’. This will be presented at the Wellington Town Hall, in conjunction with the New Zealand Film Archive, at 7pm on Monday 15 March 2010.

You will also be able to hear the artist speak about his work. The first lecture in McCall’s tour of New Zealand and Australia 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 Conference Room at 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.

Anthony McCall’s works feature in major international collections including Tate Gallery, London, England; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA; the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain; and the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany.

Anthony McCall currently lives and works in New York. He is represented by Sean Kelly Gallery, New York; Thomas Zander, Cologne and Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris.

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.