Darkness is Bentley Meeker’s canvas.
For for the 51-year-old New York light artist, the past decade of working with light as his medium has been an ethereal journey through the world of the unknown.
Some of the results of this ride can be seen starting Saturday when Immaculate Refractions opens at the Penticton Art Gallery.
An accomplished artist renowned for his commercial work for everyone from celebrities to world politicians, along with shows in some of the most prestigious art galleries, his latest presentation came while he was sitting around in the living room of his Harlem apartment.
“I was playing around with lasers and this is what came out,” said Meeker. “To understand what the medium of light is, most of my work is an exploration into light by taking different versions of it and juxtaposing them together.
Immaculate in this case he says refers to the breaking down of light into a single colour through the use of a laser.
“Take a look at what light is, at one point in the frequency, high noon daylight has 16.8 million colours according to the scientific community,” said Meeker. “Think about it, with lasers it’s one point in the spectrum you’ve got one colour refracted which means that there are no other colours making up for the space that the refraction leaves in terms of shadow or a lack of light.”
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This something the artist will be addressing—the interplay between single frequencies of light and refractive elements and formations—during his talk Saturday at the Penticton gallery at 2 p.m. Admission is free.
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What began as a job has transitioned to much more for Meeker, taking on a spiritual component in his life.
“Why do we see a light when there is a near-death experience, why does every religion talk about light in a soulful way?” he asked. “For me, there’s a narrative here that’s not being explored at all in our day-to-day use of it.”
The Penticton show runs until May 12 and Saturday’s opening day reception will go from 1 to 4 p.m. An all-ages dance party will take place on March 29 from 8 p.m. to midnight featuring DJ Shakes. Suggested donation is $10.
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