Villareal Presents Celestial Garden at Guild Hall

When people think of the materials used to create art, typical objects that come to mind are brushes, paint or a canvas. Rarely do people think of technology or LED lights as art materials, but that is exactly the medium that artist Leo Villareal has been working in since the 1990s.

“I think more and more artists are using technology and it is just becoming another material, like how I use paint, or I use bronze, or whatever you use, and I happen to use code,” Villareal said in a recent interview.

Guild Hall’s newly renovated Marks Family Gallery South is currently featuring Villareal’s newest LED light sculpture. Titled “Celestial Garden,” Villareal created this work using his own software to pair a soundscape with visual art and imagery inspired by the environment.

“It all comes from nature,” Villareal said. “This case in particular, it’s called ‘Celestial Garden’ so it’s a combination of things you might find in the cosmos or — I have been studying the symmetry of flowers — so connecting those things.”

Villareal’s background in sculpture and technology, tied into his passion for discovering how things work, led him to become involved in the digital art world more than 20 years ago. He said that he draws inspiration from objects in the garden, like flowers, and other things that people encounter in their daily lives, as well as objects that can only be found in the cosmos or vast universe.

“This is all being generated by my own custom software in real time, so this is not recorded,” Villareal explained of his artwork. “I have been studying these systems in nature and then recreating them, but in an abstract way. It connects things like a garden, and things you might see here [on Earth], but also [things you find] in the cosmos and sort of blurs out that line.”

The custom software that Villareal and his team have created guides the art to create very specific imagery, in a way that Villareal feels it should be displayed. The light sculpture is made up of an array of LEDs over 10 feet high and 28 feet wide that is encased in a vinyl membrane. The artwork perpetually evolves into forms created by using the software that orchestrates the compositions. However, as a sculptor, Villareal hopes that visitors, who view the work at Guild Hall in a darkened focus less on how this digital art is made and more on being present in the space and experiencing the art.

“All the technologies have become much more accessible than when I was doing this stuff in the ‘90s,” Villareal said. “There are whole communities of art makers and spaces where people are learning and teaching one another how these things work, so that’s very interesting to me.”

An issue that can pop up in the world of digital art is copyright issues and having art stolen. Villareal said that his team makes sure to protect the art and hire the right people to do so, but overall, his goal is to share art with the public.

“We do what we can to try and protect the work, but I also really like putting things out into the world. I do a lot of public art works like ‘The Bay Lights’ on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, with 25,000 LED lights on it,” Villareal said.

With his experience with large LED artwork installations like ‘The Bay Lights,’ Villareal’s past projects reveal his experience in the field of digital art. He noted how technology has grown over the past few decades since he entered the field.

“[Technology is] becoming more of an everyday thing, so I think that is interesting and exciting because these tools are absolutely incredible for creating all sorts of things,” he said. “My goal is to extend the language of abstraction and art and see where it can go.”

Villareal explains that though he uses technology and code as his artistic medium to create this non-repeating and unique work, he also allows the work to grow on its own.

“I am guiding it, but I am also leaving it somewhat open ended as well,” he said. “I am definitely the author and artist of this, but it is also exciting to let it grow on its own and watch it change and evolve.”

Villareal emphasized that there is no specific message that he hopes audiences “get” from his work. Instead, he intends “Celestial Garden” to be highly subjective, as it is ever changing and allows for audiences to spend a lot of time with the work.

“It creates a meditative experience,” said Villareal. “I am creating a way for people to, as a group, to have this experience and feel like you are together, but also with the artwork.”

To compliment the meditative mood that the artwork invites audiences to experience, Villareal has included two large zero-gravity chairs that can accommodate up to three people for the optimal observing experience.

“[The chair] was purposefully designed to evenly distribute people’s body weight and the idea is that it would help… people leave their bodies,” Villareal said. “I think that is an interesting idea, so I like making a space for the viewers to see the show and to come and engage with it.”

“Leo Villareal: Celestial Garden” will be on view in Guild Hall’s Marks Family Gallery South through October 15. Gallery hours are Thursday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. through Labor Day, and Friday to Monday, noon to 5 p.m. after September 4. The gallery will be closed on Thursdays after Labor Day. Gallery admission is free. Guild Hall is at 158 Main Street in East Hampton. For more information, visit guildhall.org.