Lasers are always awesome, but when they explore major developments in Western art history, they can be truly spectacular. A case in point is the work of Matthew Schreiber, whose creations engage with light, geometry, technology and their place in the arts.
Matthew Schreiber, Garnett Cross, 2006 — Source: Johannes Vogt Gallery
Geometry has been playing a central role in Western art history since Ancient Greece, enabling crucial developments in the understanding of lines, volumes, proportions and perception of space. Some of Schreiber’s works play with these developments, including the invention of linear perspective in the Renaissance:
Leon Battista Alberti’s Linear Perspective Model, developed in the 1430s
Matthew Schreiber, Crystalline Lattice, 2010 — Sources: theartstack.com and juxtapoz.com
Schreiber has also engaged with volume geometry in a work that evokes another Renaissance master:
Leonardo da Vinci, Dodecahedron llustration for De Divina Proportione, 1498-99 (published 1509)
Matthew Schreiber, Mysterium Fixed, 2010 — Source: newmuseum.org
Weave-like geometries that blur the lines between the material and the immaterial are also a major feature of Schreiber’s laser installations:
Matthew Schreiber, Triple Ring, 2011 — Sources: Johannes Vogt Gallery and juxtapoz.com
Matthew Schreiber, Gatekeeper, 2014 — Source: thecreatorsproject.vice.com
Unsurprisingly, Matthew Schreiber spent thirteen years as the chief lighting expert for James Turrell, a pioneer of light art, before fully developing his own approach and creating those stunning laser spaces.
That’s what you get when you combine a childhood love of lasers and films with a strong understanding of art history.
