12 October - 20 November 2005
Three radically different artists, three different mediums - photography, polyethylene and glass - all seeking to create a world where light is used to create rather than control the work. Light and Image presents a selection of 21 vintage photographic prints of provocative and surrealistic images by Man Ray including a rare and arresting photogravure portfolio of rayographs, électricité, commissioned in 1931 as part of a campaign to promote the use of electricity in everyday life.
Man Ray expressed an interest in painting with light and in 1922 developed, along with Lee Miller (1907-1977), Man Ray's studio assistant, model, muse and a photographer, a photographic technique which he later claimed as his own and dubbed rayography, whereby two-dimensional composition was explored by placing objects on light sensitive photographic paper and exposing it to light. Man Ray exploited the technique with an imagination, spontaneity and wit which captivated Parisian Surrealists.
Lucy Wade's (1972) delicate and elegant glass rods explore the play of light with subtle veiling, internal patterns and surface design, to create poetically rhythmic and constantly evolving pieces which, in their transformation, extend the work beyond the frame. Her piece, Luse, was shortlisted for the Bombay Sapphire Glass Prize in 2004.
Chihiro Tanaka (1980), the recipient of numerous awards including the Ishikawa Association Chairman's prize, entitles his installation, Spore. Based on the reproductive aspect of spores, Tanaka's lights operate as a form of a spore case with the ability to challenge and bring to life a material that on the surface looks hard, but is actually malleable, allowing for a constantly changing form. Just as spores create new life, Tanaka's works act as living organisms allowing for the creation of new atmospheres and visions.