Past Exhibition

Jim Campbell: Scattered Light

October 21, 2010 – February 28, 2011

Past Exhibition

Jim Campbell: Scattered Light

October 21, 2010 – February 28, 2011

Comprised of three parts, Jim Campbell’s Scattered Light blankets Madison Square Park’s Oval Lawn with a 3-D matrix of LED lights. Scattered Light, the largest of the three pieces, incorporates almost 2,000 LEDs to construct a vibrant grid spanning twenty feet high and eighty feet wide across the center of the Oval Lawn. Bulbs, engineered to flicker at the command of computer programming, create the illusion of figures moving across the Park. Broken Window, an array of LEDs encased in a glass brick wall, produces illuminated images that appear to glide across the glass plane and reflect the kinetic movements of the City. Voices in the Subway Station transforms the rumbling of subway trains and overlapping conversations into a visual orchestra. The work features eighteen glass tablets that are programmed to pulse in rhythmic patterns evocative of cacophonous subway noises. Voices in the Subway Station is installed adjacent to Madison Avenue between 24th and 25th streets. Campbell is distinguished for his use of LED light as a primary medium and electronic sculpture that captivates the viewer.

About the artist

Jim Campbell (American, b.1965) was born in Chicago and lives and works in San Francisco. He earned a BS in electrical engineering and mathematics from MIT (1978).

The artist has received Rockefeller Fellowship Award in Multimedia (1999), Langlois Foundation Grant (2002), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2003). As an engineer, he holds more than 12 patents in the field of video image processing. Campbell’s works are included in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

Read more about the artist
About the artist

Jim Campbell (American, b.1965) was born in Chicago and lives and works in San Francisco. He earned a BS in electrical engineering and mathematics from MIT (1978).

The artist has received Rockefeller Fellowship Award in Multimedia (1999), Langlois Foundation Grant (2002), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2003). As an engineer, he holds more than 12 patents in the field of video image processing. Campbell’s works are included in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

Read more about the artist

About the artist

Jim Campbell (American, b.1965) was born in Chicago and lives and works in San Francisco. He earned a BS in electrical engineering and mathematics from MIT (1978).

The artist has received Rockefeller Fellowship Award in Multimedia (1999), Langlois Foundation Grant (2002), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2003). As an engineer, he holds more than 12 patents in the field of video image processing. Campbell’s works are included in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

Read more about the artist
Exhibition Catalogue

Jim Campbell: Scattered Light

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Press Release

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About the artist

Jim Campbell (American, b.1965) was born in Chicago and lives and works in San Francisco. He earned a BS in electrical engineering and mathematics from MIT (1978).

The artist has received Rockefeller Fellowship Award in Multimedia (1999), Langlois Foundation Grant (2002), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2003). As an engineer, he holds more than 12 patents in the field of video image processing. Campbell’s works are included in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

Read more about the artist

Image gallery

Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing
Photo: James Ewing

Exhibition Support

Major Support for the art program is provided by Founding Partners Agnes Gund and Anonymous. Substantial Support is provided by Ronald A. Pizzuti, Toby Devan Lewis, Henry Luce Foundation, and Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust. Support for Scattered Light is provided by Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, The Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, Ace Hotel New York, Delta Air Lines, B.Z. and Michael Schwartz, and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This project is supported in part with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Jim Campbell: Scattered Light

Jim Campbell: Scattered Light

Jim Campbell: Scattered Light

Exhibition Support

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