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Leo Villareal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1967  Albuquerque |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Installation artist,sculptor,digital artist |
| Works | Hive (Bleecker Street) |
| Style | digital art |
| Spouse(s) | Yvonne Force Villareal |
| Website | http://villareal.net/ |
Leo Villareal (born 1967) is an American artist. His work combinesLED lights and encoded computer programming to create illuminated displays.[1] He lives and works in New York City.
Villareal was born in 1967 inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, and raised inEl Paso on both sides of the US/Mexico border.[2][3][4][5] He graduated fromPortsmouth Abbey School in 1986.[3] He received a BA degree in Sculpture fromYale University in 1990 and a graduate degree fromNew York University Tisch School of the Arts, in the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).[6]
The decisive moment that started his career came in Nevada's Black Rock desert during the 1997Burning Man festival, when Villareal rigged up a strobe-light array above his tent so that he could find it more easily.[7]
On March 5, 2013, Villareal debuted his largest piece to that date,The Bay Lights, a public light installation consisting of 25,000LEDs strung on the vertical cables of theSan Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.[8] The installation cost $8 million to install and was activated nightly through 2015.[9] It was replaced in 2016 with a permanent version.[10]
In July 17, 2019, the first stage of hisIlluminated River project went live with lighting added toLondon Bridge,Southwark Bridge,Millennium Bridge, andCannon Street bridges.[11] Phase Two addedBlackfriars Bridge,Waterloo Bridge,Westminster Bridge,Lambeth Bridge, and theGolden Jubilee Bridges, and was completed in April 2021.[12][13]
His pieceOptical Machine I was featured in The Miami Beach Edition hotel during the 2019 Art Basel art fair.[14] His pieceLiminal Gradient for (RED) was displayed at the 2018 (RED) auction co-founded byBono. It was described by architect Sir David Adjaye as "an L.E.D.Rothko".[15]
Villareal is in the collections of theMuseum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, theRenwick Gallery and theNational Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., theBrooklyn Museum of Art, and theAlbright-Knox Art Gallery inBuffalo, New York, as well as in the private collections of contemporary art collectors CJ Follini. His work has also been on display at theHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.,Madison Square Park in New York City, theLos Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, thePS 1 Contemporary Art Center inLong Island City, New York, The Northpark Mall in Dallas, andBrooklyn Academy of Music.[citation needed]
| Year | Project name | Location | Material | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Multiverse | National Gallery of Art, East and West Buildings, Washington DC | ||
| 2010 | Sky | Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida | LED-studded aluminium veil for the Museum | |
| 2013 | The Bay Lights | San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge | western section of the 7.1 km Bay Bridge linking San Francisco to Oakland | |
| 2016 | Light Matrix | Auckland Theatre Company, Auckland, New Zealand | illuminated three-storey facade of the Auckland Theatre Company[7] | |
| 2019 - 2021 | Illuminated River | London, England | creative lighting on 15 of thebridges of the River Thames in central London[16] | |
| 2023 - | Infinite Composition | Lindemann Performing Arts Center,Providence, Rhode Island | illuminated panels of white LEDs that flow in a variety of patterns in lobby of the performing arts center ofBrown University[17] |
Villareal has been represented byPace Gallery since 2016.[18]
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