Light Waves: DOCUMENT, Lisbon
Past exhibition
Overview
Hands II, 2023
Fused and kilnformed glass
16 1/2 x 23 x 1/2 inches
DOCUMENT is pleased to present Light Waves, an exhibition featuring Matthew Fischer (b. 1981 Marshfield, WI), Victoria Fu (b. 1978, Santa Monica, CA), Mariko Makino (b. 1987, New York, NY), and Sara Greenberger Rafferty (b. 1978, Evanston, IL). The exhibition will open on Wednesday, August 30, with a reception from 5 to 8 pm and will continue through November 4, 2023.
Works
Installation Views
Press release
Light Waves brings together the work of these four artists to examine light’s properties including vibrancy, radiance, or its ability to create atmosphere. By exploring the materiality of light through photography, collage, and sculpture, the exhibition also addresses light’s relationship to screens and supports, whether in analog film or present-day digital devices.
Mariko Makino, a New York-based sculptor who explores neon as her primary medium, crafts her work by drawing parallels between nature's processes and the personal experiences that shape us. In contrast to commercial signs designed to grab pedestrians' attention, Makino's light sculptures are inspired by nature. They aim to create an atmosphere that invites viewers to develop a more intimate relationship with this material and bask in its subtle glow. Similarly, Matthew Fischer's stained glass sculptures interact with the room’s natural light, emitting vibrant and shifting colors into the space. This quality in Fischer's pieces adds to their consideration of prehistoric mythology and anthropomorphic figures transformed into deities, creating sculptures that reference both a Catholic church’s stained glass windows and a neolithic carving. Victoria Fu has been working with anonymous stock images to reflect on the expanded nature of vision in an increasingly digital world. However, rather than criticizing screens, Fu explores their materiality and impact on visual culture. Establishing a dialogue with Fu, Sara Greenberger Rafferty references found imagery and the post-color pre-digital period, as well as light’s refraction through the gesture of recomposing broken pieces and layering them in the kiln. As a pivotal aspect of her practice, Greenberger Rafferty has been delving into glass through kiln forming. Historically intertwined with the evolution of photography, glass allows the artist to further reflect on our evolving concepts of visual perception.
Matthew Fischer lives and works in New York City. He earned an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Outer Space, Concord, NH (upcoming); Left Field Gallery, Los Osos, CA (2022); Paris London Hong Kong, Chicago, IL (2022); and JAG Projects, Hudson, NY (2021). In 2018, Fischer was a fellow with Shandaken Project’s Paint School. He has also been an artist in residence at the Lighthouse Works and twice at The Edward F. Albee Foundation in Montauk, NY. He currently teaches painting and drawing at Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, NY.
Victoria Fu lives and works in San Diego, CA. She received an MFA from CalArts and a BA from Stanford University. Recent solo exhibitions and commissions include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2023); Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY (2021); and DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL (2020). Her artwork is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA. Fu has received grants from Art Matters and the Harpo Foundation and is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow.
Mariko Makino lives and works between New York City and Freehold, NY. Raised in Tokyo, Makino received a BA from NYU in 2010. Recent solo exhibitions include Entrance, New York, NY (2022); Paris London Hong Kong, Chicago, IL (2022); and Entrance, New York, NY (2018).
Sara Greenberger Rafferty lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Recent solo exhibitions include the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA (2021); DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL (2021); JOAN, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY (2018); and the Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (2018). Her work is included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT; the New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago, IL; and the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH.
DOCUMENT Lisbon
Av. António Augusto de Aguiar 11, 3º Esquerdo
Lisboa, 1050-010
Mariko Makino, a New York-based sculptor who explores neon as her primary medium, crafts her work by drawing parallels between nature's processes and the personal experiences that shape us. In contrast to commercial signs designed to grab pedestrians' attention, Makino's light sculptures are inspired by nature. They aim to create an atmosphere that invites viewers to develop a more intimate relationship with this material and bask in its subtle glow. Similarly, Matthew Fischer's stained glass sculptures interact with the room’s natural light, emitting vibrant and shifting colors into the space. This quality in Fischer's pieces adds to their consideration of prehistoric mythology and anthropomorphic figures transformed into deities, creating sculptures that reference both a Catholic church’s stained glass windows and a neolithic carving. Victoria Fu has been working with anonymous stock images to reflect on the expanded nature of vision in an increasingly digital world. However, rather than criticizing screens, Fu explores their materiality and impact on visual culture. Establishing a dialogue with Fu, Sara Greenberger Rafferty references found imagery and the post-color pre-digital period, as well as light’s refraction through the gesture of recomposing broken pieces and layering them in the kiln. As a pivotal aspect of her practice, Greenberger Rafferty has been delving into glass through kiln forming. Historically intertwined with the evolution of photography, glass allows the artist to further reflect on our evolving concepts of visual perception.
Matthew Fischer lives and works in New York City. He earned an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Outer Space, Concord, NH (upcoming); Left Field Gallery, Los Osos, CA (2022); Paris London Hong Kong, Chicago, IL (2022); and JAG Projects, Hudson, NY (2021). In 2018, Fischer was a fellow with Shandaken Project’s Paint School. He has also been an artist in residence at the Lighthouse Works and twice at The Edward F. Albee Foundation in Montauk, NY. He currently teaches painting and drawing at Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, NY.
Victoria Fu lives and works in San Diego, CA. She received an MFA from CalArts and a BA from Stanford University. Recent solo exhibitions and commissions include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2023); Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY (2021); and DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL (2020). Her artwork is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA. Fu has received grants from Art Matters and the Harpo Foundation and is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow.
Mariko Makino lives and works between New York City and Freehold, NY. Raised in Tokyo, Makino received a BA from NYU in 2010. Recent solo exhibitions include Entrance, New York, NY (2022); Paris London Hong Kong, Chicago, IL (2022); and Entrance, New York, NY (2018).
Sara Greenberger Rafferty lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received an MFA from Columbia University and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Recent solo exhibitions include the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA (2021); DOCUMENT, Chicago, IL (2021); JOAN, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY (2018); and the Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (2018). Her work is included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT; the New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago, IL; and the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, NH.
DOCUMENT Lisbon
Av. António Augusto de Aguiar 11, 3º Esquerdo
Lisboa, 1050-010