All Things Bright and Beautiful

Light as a Contemporary Art Medium and Subject

Chromolithographic reproduction of a watercolour painting by Eduard Pechuël-Loesche of the skies over Indonesia after the explosion of Krakatoa in 1883. Public Domain Review.

We look into the light, we see the light, we light up with delight, and we marvel at how light makes “all things bright and beautiful.” Light is a complex phenomenon that allows us to see the world, but it is also a symbol richly embedded in our human experience. At our next Making & Meaning Conversation, we will consider how light is taken up as a medium and how it imbues meaning in the work of three contemporary artists: James Turrell, Mary Corse, and David Spriggs.