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Chasing Rainbows By Leo Villareal

Sandra Gering Gallery, New York, NewYork, USA

They illuminate high-rise facades and Broadway sets, but did you know that Color Kinetics’ LED lighting systems also enable transcendent works of art? New York-based artist Leo Villareal is reknown for his hypnotic light sculptures, including the latest piece to take advantage of Color Kinetics’ technology: Chasing Rainbows.

Exhibited at the Sandra Gering Gallery in Spring 2004, Chasing Rainbows is comprised of 60 lengths of iColor® Accent 8’ LED light fixture, stacked horizontally in groups of 20 and mounted on three walls. Using custom-designed software, Villareal created a series of intricate light shows that, according to the Gallery, use both pattern and rhythm to create a mesmerizing temporal abstraction within a system of matrices. Each 8’ length of iColor Accent is programmable in 1’ increments, allowing precisely designed effects that range from abstract patterns to shapes resembling the graphics of early video games. Viewers are transfixed by the seemingly endless flow of morphing colors, patterns and images.

Villareal’s work continues to push the boundaries of light manipulation – a feat made possible by the intelligent nature of LED sources and Color Kinetics’ digital control technology.