Doug Wheeler's Immersive Light Installations at Frac Lorraine

The Frac Lorraine in Metz is hosting a solo exhibition of American artist Doug Wheeler, a pioneer of the Light and Space movement, from May 24 to November 11, 2012. Though less famous than contemporaries like John Irwin or James Turrell, Wheeler has influenced many artists in the Frac collection, including Ann Veronica Janssens and David Lamelas. The exhibition features three in situ installations. The first immerses viewers in color with a phosphorescent blue painted surface that can be perceived as volume. The second creates an illusion of infinite space with a false door and exposed projectors, revealing the mechanics behind the effect. The third environment draws spectators into a vast white monochrome with a reflective floor. Wheeler's works are not illusionistic but provoke physical disorientation and a tangible experience of invisibility and dematerialization.