Light Space Surface

A definitive resource on California’s Light and Space and Finish Fetish movements of the 1960s and ’70s

This volume explores the art of Light and Space and related “finish fetish” pieces with highly polished surfaces. In the 1960s and 1970s, various artists in Southern California began to create works that investigate perceptual phenomena: how we come to understand form, volume, presence and absence through light, whether seen directly through other materials, reflected, or refracted. Many artists used newly developed industrial materials—including sheet acrylic, fiberglass and polyester resin—in their work. Light, Space, Surface draws on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s deep holdings of this material, revealing the vibrancy and diversity of this slice of American art history.
Artists include: Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Judy Chicago, Gisela Colón, Ron Cooper, Mary Corse, Ronald Davis, Guy Dill, Laddie John Dill, Fred Eversley, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, John McCracken, Bruce Nauman, Helen Pashgian, Roland Reiss, Roy Thurston, James Turrell, De Wain Valentine, Doug Wheeler and Norman Zammitt.