CALIFORNIA LIGHT: CASPER BRINDLE

The exhibition features Brindle’s Aura Series, the Strata Series, Vacuum Formed Light Glyphs and sculptural works, all of which underscore the serene and reflective nature characteristic of this minimalist Light & Space artist. 

Casper Brindle self-avowedly carries on a tradition of transcendence. Also linked, less directly, to the second generation of the Finish/Fetish movement, Brindle has experienced the same atmospheric phenomena and encountered the same space-age materials as his Light & Space predecessors. As Eric Orr's artist's assistant, Brindle was in direct contact with the movement's leading artists from an early age. “Among the large and growing cadre of  younger perceptualists”, writes critic and curator Peter Frank, "Brindle is notable for his close  regard not just for the tendency’s reliance on optical effect, but for the austerity of its formal  language. And it is in that formal language that Brindle poses the abstract, even metaphysical questions  that give his art its particular presence and vitality."

The Aura series are monochromatic pieces that bridge the space between painting and  sculpture. Upon first glance they  appear to have austere white surfaces. However, as the viewer moves around them, a  nuanced depth becomes apparent as ghostly layers rise to the surface and new structures emerge. Reductive in nature, these objects have a totemic presence that inspires a quiet reverence. At the center of each is an enigmatic, metallic rectangle  enshrouded in a halo of pure white. These cryptic forms appear to be made from liquid  metal. 

Utilizing tools and techniques adopted from the industrial complex of Southern California car culture, Brindle applies paint to the surface of his Strata paintings in  multiple layers of fine airbrush sprays. The high gloss, resin finishes appear to liquify the  shimmering stratums of color beneath, creating an intoxicating effect. Atmospheric gradations of color are encased in hardened surfaces, creating a constant interplay between  depth, light and texture. Immersing the viewer into luminous, chromatic fields, these paintings transcend the representational suggestion of land and sea, evoking something  more elemental, like vast and infinite horizons rushing across time and space.

And finally, Casper Brindle’s newest series, the Glyphs, continues the artist’s investigation into the expressive capacities of color and form while utilizing new materials and modes of production.