Abstracted Light: Experimental Photography, on view August 20 through November 24, 2024 at the Getty Center, focuses on light abstraction as one of the primary aesthetic concerns of avant-garde photography from the 1920s to the 1950s. Drawn from the rich holdings of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection, the exhibition features photographs by international artists including László Moholy-Nagy (Hungarian, 1895–1946), Francis Bruguière (American, 1879–1945), Man Ray (American, 1890–1976), Tōyō Miyatake (American, born in Japan, 1895–1979), Asahachi Kono (Japanese, 1876–1943), and Barbara Morgan (American, 1900–1992).
The exhibition is presented in conjunction with PST ART: Art & Science Collide, a groundbreaking regional cultural collaboration that unites more than 70 exhibition and performance spaces around a singular theme, the intersection of art and science.
“Whether explicitly or implicitly, light is the physical, conceptual and aesthetic fundament of photography,” says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum. “This exhibition focuses especially on the myriad ways light has been harnessed, abstracted, and manipulated in the creation of some of the most inventive and innovative photography of the 20th century. Abstracted Light will make a major contribution both to PST ART, as well as to the history of photography.”
The works in this exhibition represent a variety of approaches to light abstraction, starting with the photogram process. One of the earliest forms of photography, a photogram is made by placing objects directly on chemically treated paper and exposing them to light to capture their silhouettes. Photographers revived this technique as they sought novel ways to create abstract images. The Hungarian-born artist Lászlo Moholy-Nagy, working in Germany, became one of the photogram’s fiercest advocates, writing that it enabled photographers to “sketch with light” in the same way that painters work with paintbrushes and pigment. In Paris, the American expatriate Man Ray also embraced the photogram, mistakenly claiming that he had invented the technique and naming it the “Rayograph” after himself. Through international exhibitions and photography journals, the popularity of the photogram spread far and wide.
Another technique modern photographers adopted to create dynamic abstract compositions came to be known as “light painting.” This method involves moving a light source in front of the camera during a long exposure. The motion of the light creates glowing patterns and shapes on the negative that may appear as ethereal calligraphy. A photographer can achieve a similar effect by moving the camera itself during the exposure while aiming it toward static light sources, such as street lamps or neon signs, capturing a sort of luminous graffiti. These methods may be combined with other experimental techniques, such as superimposing multiple exposures, to create even more elaborate abstractions.
Included in the exhibition are four short films of the 1920s and ’30s (screening continuously) in which avant-garde artists explored light abstraction using innovative techniques that pushed the boundaries of the art form. Their experiments with varying styles of animation, as well as with a montage, multiple exposures, and other special effects, challenged conventional cinematic storytelling, providing audiences with immersive and mesmerizing visual experiences.
One gallery is devoted to the work of Thomas Wilfred (American, born Denmark, 1889–1968), a pioneer in light art which he referred to as “Lumia.” From the 1910’s to the 1960s, he designed and built a series of mechanical devices that generate choreographed displays of moving abstract forms. Wilfred’s inventions include the organ-like Clavilux, a keyboard controlling arrays of projectors for public performances, and self-contained Lumia instruments resembling television sets for adventurous collectors, four of which will be on view in the exhibition.
“I am excited to bring together such an exciting array of photographs, films and Lumia instruments which demonstrate the incredible synergy and energy of vanguard artists working across the globe in light abstraction,” says Jim Ganz, Getty Museum’s senior curator of photographs and the organizer of the exhibition. “This show provides a rare opportunity to view some of Getty’s most important 20th-century photographs which have not been displayed here in many years.”
Abstracted Light: Experimental Photography is curated by Jim Ganz, senior curator in the Department of Photographs. A companion exhibition, Sculpting with Light: Contemporary Artists and Holography, on view August 20 through November 24, 2024, features artists who incorporated the technology and magic of holography into their work in the late 1990s through 2020.
This exhibition is part of PST ART, a Getty initiative presenting over 70 exhibitions at institutions across Southern California tied to the theme Art & Science Collide. PST ART is presented by Getty. Lead partners are Bank of America, Alicia Miñana & Rob Lovelace, Getty Patron Program. The principal partner is Simons Foundation. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit: pst.art