Charles Gaines in collaboration with Hoyun Son; Black Ghost Blues Redux (2008); Single-channel video; Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles Projects

Charles Gaines in collaboration with Hoyun Son; Black Ghost Blues Redux (2008); Single-channel video; Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles Projects

In the Shadow of Numbers

In the Shadow of Numbers: Charles Gaines Selected Works from 1975-2012

September 4 – October 21, 2012
Lenzner Family Art Gallery

The Pomona College Museum of Art and Pitzer Art Galleries, Pitzer College are pleased to present In the Shadow of Numbers: Charles Gaines Selected Works from 1975-2012. Based in Los Angeles, Gaines investigates the relationships between aesthetic experience, political beliefs, and the formation of meaning. His work over the last forty years has typically employed systems and rule-based procedures to explore how we experience and derive meaning from art. Gaines is often linked with early Conceptual artists who came to prominence in the 1960s questioning subjectivity and traditional formal and material concerns. However, he identifies more closely with John Cage’s examinations of indeterminacy in both composition and performance and focuses on linguistic tools such as metaphors and metonyms.

In the Shadow of Numbers: Charles Gaines Selected Works from 1975-2012 represents the first collaboration between the Pomona College Museum of Art and Pitzer College Art Galleries. The exhibition consists of photographs, sculptures, video, and drawings from several bodies of Gaines’s work over the last several decades, including the “Explosions,” “History of Stars,” “NIGHT/CRIMES,” “Shadows,” and “Walnut Tree Orchard” series, among others, presented at the two Claremont College venues. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition and includes writings by the artist, Michael Ned Holte, Ciara Ennis, and Rebecca McGrew.

Related Events

Opening reception: Saturday, September 15, 4-6 p.m.
Pomona College Museum of Art

Performance: Thursday, September 20 at 7 p.m.
Pomona College Museum of Art
The Lone Wolf Recital Corp featuring Charles Gaines will present an evening of electronic, digital, and acoustical sound.

Artist lecture: Tuesday, October 16 at 2:45 p.m.
George C.S. Benson Auditorium, Pitzer College