Leo Villareal: Cosmic Reef

Leo Villareal (b. 1967, Albuquerque, New Mexico) works with LED arrays to create complex, rhythmic light sculptures and other works for both gallery and public settings. He focuses on identifying the governing structures of systems and is interested in base units such as pixels and binary code. His installations are based on custom, artist-created code, which operates in real-time to constantly alter the frequency, intensity, and patterning of light. Villareal has created major temporary and permanent works for numerous public spaces and museums including the Herbert F. Johnson Museum; Cornell University; and National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. He is particularly known for two monumental public works: The Bay Lights, a site-specific generative light sculpture that occupies the entire western space of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and Illuminated River, a series of light sculptures installed on bridges over the River Thames in London.