Artist Talk: Leo Villareal at the Figge Art Museum -- September 19.
Thursday, September 19, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
With the goal of the evening's guest the creation of a rich environment in which emergent behavior can occur without a preconceived outcome, visual artist Leo Villareal takes part in a September 19 artist talk at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, this fascinating and thought-provoking discussion held in conjunction with the September 21 opening of the artist's new Figge exhibition Interstellar.
Villareal is renowned for his large-scale, site-specific light installations. Notably, he is creating Evanescent Field, a light sculpture which will illuminate the Figge Art Museum facade in 2025. Once completed, it will be the largest public artwork in Iowa. Villareal’s prominent works include The Bay Lights on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, Illuminated River in London, which connects nine bridges through a single artwork, and Multiverse, a volumetric installation connecting the East and West buildings of the National Gallery of Art.
Additionally, works by Villareal are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Renwick Gallery and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, as well as in private collections. His artistic creations have also been on display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.; Madison Square Park in New York City; the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; the PS 1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, New York; the Northpark Mall in Dallas; and Brooklyn Academy of Music.
In Interstellar, Villareal's sculptures emit a hypnotic, diffused light, drawing inspiration from celestial imagery and capturing the dynamism of space through their interplay of colors and shapes. Each artwork features a unique sequence created through generative code, ensuring that no two sculptures are alike. The exhibition includes selections from Villareal’s NFT (non-fungible token) series Cosmic Bloom, which reflects the ordered randomness found in nature, starting with simple geometric forms that evolve into complex, dynamic layers. These layers result from a blend of human control, engineering, and chance, highlighting the intersection of art and technology.
The artist talk with Leo Villareal will take place on September 19, admission to the 6:30 p.m. program is free, and Figge members are invited to mingle in the pre-lecture reception starting at 5 p.m. Villareal's Interstellar exhibit will be on display from September 31 through January 19, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
