Press release / Communiqué de presse

LADDIE JOHN DILL
Contained Radiance/Paris
Vernissage 12 mars 18 - 21h
exposition 12 mars - 7 mai 2011
mardi - samedi 11 - 19h
Opening reception March 12th 6-9pm
March 12th - May 7th 2011
tuesday-saturday 11am-7pm
La galerie Dominique Fiat est heureuse de présenter du 12 mars au 7 mai 2011 Contained Radiance/Paris, une exposition
personnelle de l’artiste californien Laddie John Dill, avec des travaux datant des années 70 et associés au mouvement
«Light and Space».
Les «Light Sentences» (phrases lumineuses) constituent de réelles expériences d’alchimiste en jouant sur la présence et
l’absence de mercure, uranium et hélium.
L’artiste manie l’intensité de la lumière, de sorte que la pièce se définit à la fois par la source (le néon) et par la radiation
de la lumière. Chaque pièce est alors contenue dans son espace proche et immédiat.
Etudiant en peinture au Chouinard Art Institute de Los Angeles, Laddie John Dill (1943) rencontre Emerson Worlffer et
Robert Iwin. Sa carrière prend son envol alors qu’il travaille sur des sculptures de sable, verre et néon. A 27 ans, il expose
en solo show à la galerie Illeana Sonnabend de New York avec une installation où les tubes de néon se réfléchissent sur
des plaques de verre enfouies sous des «dunes» de sable aux formes changeantes, et crée ainsi une oeuvre en perpétuel
mouvement.
Il a depuis lors exposé dans le monde entier dans des institutions muséales et des galeries en Corée du Sud, au Japon, en
Finlande, aux USA, etc. et ses travaux font partie de prestigieuses collections privées (IBM, the Bank of America, Eastman
Kodak, etc) et publiques (Chicago Art Institute, MoMa New York, Museum of Modern Art San Francisco etc.).
Il a enseigné dans les plus grandes universités américaines telles que l’UCLA, UC Irvine, l’Art Center Pasadena et a donné
de nombreuses conférences dans tous les Etats-Unis.
A 68 ans, l’oeuvre complète de l’artiste reste inscrite dans la recherche sur la lumière, qu’il n’a jamais abandonnée.
Dominique Fiat gallery is pleased to announce from March 12 to May 7 Contained Radiance/Paris, a solo show with the Californian
artist Laddie John Dill who will present some of his works from the 70s connected to the movement «Light and Space».
The «Light Sentences» constitute real experiments in alchemy wielding the absence and presence of mercury, uranium and helium.
The artist controls the intensity of the light so that the piece is defined by both the source of the light (the neon) and its radiation.
Each piece is therefore contained in its own and immediate space.
Gratuated from Chouinard Art School, Laddie John Dill (1943) studied painting with Emerson Woelffer and met Robert Irwin. His
career took off soon after when he developed sculptural works with sand, glass, and neon. Asked to exhibit at the Sonnabend Gallery
in New York when just 27 years old, Dill with an installation where the play of light across the sand granules and faces of glass was
controlled and manipulated by altering the shapes and heights of the “dunes” with brooms. The works were ever-changing.
Dill’s list of exhibitions include galleries and museums from such venues as South Corea, Japan, Findland, etc. as well as all across
the US. His works belong to prestigious private (IBM, the Bank of America, Eastman Kodak, among others) and public collections
(Chicago Art Institute, MoMa New York, Museum of Modern Art San Francisco etc.). He has also taught extensively at UCLA,
UCIrvine, Art Center in Pasadena, and lectured in numerous universities.
At age 68, the extend work of the artist never failled to answer his never-ending search of light.
LADDIE JOHN DILL
opening November 20 6-8 pm
exhibition November 16 - 15 January 2011
Tuesday Saturday 11-7 pm
press material [email protected]
Rut Blees Luxemburg, Black Sunrise, 2010
150 x 120 cm, C-Print, Framed
Contained Radiance/Paris
Laddie John Dill lives and works in Venice, California, only a short distance from his birthplace, Long Beach. Educated
at Chouinard, where he studied painting with Emerson Woelffer and met Robert Irwin, Dill is, in all respects, a southern
Californian artist. At age 28, Dill had his first one-man exhibit at the Illeana Sonnabend Gallery in New York. Dill’s list of
exhibitions include galleries and museums from such venues as Seoul, Paris, Nogoya, Japan; and Helsinki, Findland;
to New York, Kansas City, Seattle, and throughout Northern and Southern California.
Laddie is the recipient of two National Endowment grants; one for sculpture and one for painting, and a Guggenheim
Fellowship for painting. He has also taught extensively at UCLA, UCIrvine, Art Center in Pasadena, and lectured in
numerous universities and art institutions across the United States.
Collectors of his art include IBM, the Bank of America, the Chemical Bank, Eastman Kodak, and the American Telephone
and Telegraph, among others.
Tubes of Neon
Dill’s career took off soon after when he developed sculptural works with sand, glass, and neon. Asked to exhibit at the
Sonnabend Gallery in New York when just 27 years old, Dill began his period of installations. Thick sheets of plate glass
were placed in rooms full of sand; the glass was subtly illuminated by tubes of neon which were buried at the bases of
each sheet of glass.
The play of light across the sand granules and faces of glass was controlled and manipulated by altering the shapes and
heights of the “dunes” with brooms. The works were ever-changing.
From this early focus on “experiencing” the installation, which changed from gallery to gallery in addition to changing
during the exhibition, Dill sought a more permanent form for his interest in topography, light and texture.
He devised a method of “painting” with cement, incorporating smooth sheets of glass that contrast to the varied
topography of the cement.
Laddie John no longer uses glass tubes and neon to paint dots and dashes or bars of brightly articulated color, nonetheless
Dill paints with light, prismatic light shines from his work.