Art lovers can travel through "Labyrinths of Light"

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Gazelli Art House has opened a unique exhibition which allows visitors to travel through "Labyrinths of Light".

The exhibition marks Stanley Casselman’s second solo show with the gallery and includes a concise selection from the Frequency, Untitled-Presence, Day One and Liquid series.

Throughout his career, Casselman’s work has been fueled by a fascination with the properties of light. Starting twenty-five years ago, in response to looking at the stained glass windows of Westminster Abbey, he began his artistic practice creating rear-illuminated paintings. The artist then turned his focus on to his pioneering work with polyester screens.

"Labyrinths of Light" exhibition, a four year survey of Casselman, is curated by David Anfam.

The artist captures the varied properties of light through his bold, large-scale, abstract paintings full of hills, valleys, peaks and troughs. These colorful labyrinths of works from Frequency and Untitled-Presence series explore surface tension and abstractions in ingenious ways.

Using his own handcrafted tools, Casselman’s highly labor-intensive process pushes paint through screens layer by layer – as in the case of his Day One series too. The results are often both minimalistic and richly detailed capturing subtle changes in colour, line and form.

"The new compositions [of the Liquid series] involve the industrial process known as spray chroming, a water-based means to apply silver nitrate to a surface, leading to reflective, mirrored finishes," said David Anfam, Senior Consulting Curator at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.

He added that in Casselman’s hands the results become a journey through a fantastical, labyrinthine landscape that emanates light.

"We are eager to present the outcome of this highly-anticipated collaboration at our gallery in Baku," said Mila Askarova, CEO and Director of Gazelli Art House.

She added that since their very first show together in 2014, Casselman has continuously pushed the boundaries of creating and recreating his process-driven works – reaching incredible heights with the end result.

The exhibition will continue until November 2.

The artist was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1963. His works have been shown and collected by museums around the world, including the Fredrick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles, California, the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Borusan Contemporary in Istanbul, Turkey.

David Anfam is Senior Consulting Curator at the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, and Managing Director of Art Exploration Consultancy Ltd, London. His publications include Mark Rothko – The Works on Canvas: Catalogue Raisonne (1998). Recently, Anfam curated the exhibition Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Located in the heart of Baku, Gazelli Art House serves as a place for admirers of contemporary art, exhibiting the works of world famous artists.

The gallery works with different genres of contemporary art: painting, photography, graphics, as well as installations from various materials.

Works of world-famous contemporary artists on social themes are presented there. Among them are Stanley Casselman, Giovanni Ozola, Walter & Zoniel, Aron Demetz, Saad Qureshi, Kalioppi Lemos, Jane Macadam Freud, Niyaz Najafov, Aziz + Cucher, Aaron Koblin, Ben Triclbank, Charlotte, Philippe Colbert, Francesco Jodis, James Oster, Kyung Woo Han etc.

Sculptures of wood and metal, paintings, photographs, installations and much more await those who love art and want to explore more.