Untitled, 2015 - 2016

Basel 2016
Untitled

Galerie Gisela Capitain, Greene Naftali, Modern Art

Installation
oil and enamel on linen, ultraviolet light
Jacqueline Humphries began her ‘Black Light’ series in 2005. Prompted by considerations of color and lighting conditions, Humphries ventured to fuse the two, making pigment itself a light source. The artist resumed the practice of painting with ultraviolet-sensitive enamel in 2015, creating a suite of works which were exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Carnegie Museum of Art, and at the Contemporary Art Museum New Orleans. The series provides a rich example of the artist’s inventive consideration of exhibition conditions, and of the presence of the viewer. The paintings engage in a reciprocal relationship with their installation environment; just as their compositions and hues are revealed only in the presence of ultraviolet light, the paintings emit their own glow once activated, illuminating the surrounding gallery. Suggestive of digital formats and of cinema, the paintings reflect the spatial logic of a world increasingly dominated by screens.