The Getty initiative will present over 70 exhibitions at institutions across Southern California that all explore the intersections of art and science—past, present, and in the imaginable future.
The Getty Center will host eight PST ART exhibitions—more than any other venue in the region—as well as two special installations. The theme of art and science will be represented through a major international loan exhibition that examines how the science of light impacted art and religion of the “Long Middle Ages;” photography exhibitions of artists who experimented with light in abstract imagery and holography; an exhibition on a spectacular French microscope from Getty’s collection; a manuscript exhibition that reveals the scientific mysteries of medieval astrology; a drawings exhibition that explores how artists creatively used paper and light together; a conservation exhibition on Vincent van Gogh’s Irises that reconsiders the original appearance of this beloved painting; an exhibition that tells the story of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T) and the role it played in fostering collaboration between artists and engineers; and, finally, two contemporary installations tied to the special exhibition, Lumen: The Art and Science of Light: one exploring the manipulation of spectral sunlight in the museum's rotunda by artist Charles Ross and another featuring a meditative sculpture and light installation by Helen Pashgian.
“PST Art and Science strikes at the heart of the enduring human intertwining of science and art. Neither has limits, both speak to the imagination, and when they are put together, each is even more powerful,” says Katherine E. Fleming, President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. “It’s very exciting that my first PST will bring together wide audiences and practitioners to share the creative collision of art and science. In converging the two, we start to think and talk about them in new and different ways, even as a new merged category. At Getty, we’ll be exploring a variety of art and science topics that will be presented in exhibitions that range from how science, art, and religion were interconnected in the Middle Ages to reframing our Irises, by Van Gogh.”
Exhibition press releases can be viewed below:
Abstracted Light: Experimental Photography
August 20–November 24, 2024
Sculpting with Light: Contemporary Artists and Holography
August 20–November 24, 2024
Sensing the Future: Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.)
September 10, 2024–February 23, 2025
Magnified Wonders: An 18th-Century Microscope
September 10, 2024–February 2, 2025
Lumen: The Art and Science of Light
September 10–December 8, 2024
Rising Signs: The Medieval Science of Astrology
October 1, 2024–January 5, 2025
Ultra-Violet: New Light on Van Gogh’s Irises
October 1, 2024–January 19, 2025
Paper and Light
October 15, 2024–January 19, 2025
Two special installations are also included as part of Lumen:
Lumen: Helen Pashgian
August 6, 2024–January 26, 2025
Charles Ross: Spectrum 14
September 10, 2024–Ongoing
Three additional Getty PST ART exhibitions will occur off-site:
Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey
September 17, 2024–June 15, 2025
USC Pacific Asia Museum
Alta / a Human Atlas of a City of Angels
January 13–April 27, 2025
Los Angeles Public Library, Central Library
Wired for Wonder: A Multisensory Maze
February 1–August 1, 2025
Kidspace Children's Museum
More information is available on our For Journalists page.
Images are available upon request.