Demetrious Oliver, Albedo (detail), 2010
Demetrious Oliver (MFA '04) has a solo show titled Albedo at Inman Gallery in Houston, Texas, opening Friday March 12 from 6:00 to 8:00pm. This is Oliver’s third solo exhibition with Inman Gallery, concurrent with Fotofest’s 2010
Biennial.
In Albedo, comprising a series of photographs, an installation, and a sculpture, Demetrius Oliver explores the effects and potential meanings of reflected light. In astronomy, albedo describes the ability of a celestial body, including Earth, to reflect (or, conversely, absorb) solar radiation — snow, for example, has a higher albedo than dirt. Derived from the Latin “albus,” meaning white, albedo is also an alchemical phase, the stage in which impurities are removed. Oliver transforms common objects to evoke poetic associations between physical materials and abstract ideas. Albedo, 2010, presents a single, carry-on piece of luggage unzipped to reveal surreal contents: incandescent light bulbs and chunks of lustrous anthracite coal.
Light bulbs appear again as structure and surface in the photographic series Ember, 2007. In each image, Oliver’s hand clenches a fistful of lightbulbs, creating a globular mass onto which the artist has projected photographs of workspaces.
The installation, Mare, 2009, projects light directly onto the gallery walls and, incidentally, the bodies of gallery viewers. A digital projector presents a slideshow of a rotating, circular image of a crashing wave. The projector is placed on a spinning turntable, and the image orbits the room. Connecting personal means and empyrean phenomena, the installation recreates the sense of wonderment felt when looking at the night sky, and the desire to understand one’s place in the universe. Moreover, Mare, Latin for “seas”, recalls both ancient conceptions of the moon’s dark spots as oceans and Earth’s tides, created by the moon’s gravitational pull. The three parts of the exhibition together suggest narratives of energy stored and transferred, as well as metaphors of darkness and illumination, looking and discovery.
Opening Reception: Friday, March 12, 6:00 - 8:00pm
Exhibition Dates: March 12 - May 1, 2010
Inman Gallery
3901 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002
713 - 526 - 7800
info@inmangallery.com
www.inmangallery.com
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