The distinctive light on the West Coast reveals a radical versatility that has become emblematic of a West Coast sensibility. Masterful in its capacity to coalesce the grotesque and the beautiful into a singular entity, it declares itself as a sublimation of the natural world. It has made Los Angeles the phototropic movie capital of the world. There, light casts the city in a hyper-real relief; other times, it wraps it in a dreamy haze. The light on the Northern Coastline can be imbued with expressive longing, but also feel tamped down and withdrawn. In the endless horizons of the High Desert, it can spawn an unsettling feeling of a clock-less casino. For some, this timeless sensation invokes a feeling of transcendence; for others, it is hostile or even oppressive. The West Coast light has passed through the alembic of man for centuries, inspiring writers, philosophers, filmmakers, and artists alike to revel in its gloriously multifarious delight. 

In addition to the work of six emerging artists, Afterglow will include works on paper by Vija Celmins, Tacita Dean Joe Goode, and Ken Price, seminal artists whose practices meditate on the ephemeral phenomenon of light in various contexts and provide context and inspiration for many of today’s Californian artists.