Light Shots 2021 – A Survey exhibition by Raphaele Shirley

Spanning over 10 years of production this exhibition features prominent artworks by this versatile and prolific artist. Versed in a variety of mediums ranging from sculpture, installations and painting to performance and video, Shirley will fill the Sprinkler Factory’s 3 galleries with the full breath of her production. Light sculptures large and small will animate Gallery 1 forming a meditative and awe inspiring entrance. In the rear galleries we will be able to explore further her site-specific installations. Special performances and presentations of her collaborative projects with Shirish Korde, Karen Gottschang and Algis Kizys will be presented during the length of the exhibition.

About the artist:

Raphaele Shirley (born 1969) is a french/american visual artist working in NYC. Shirley’ employs in her work diverse mediums such as LED, laser, neon, watermist, sound, and occasional pyrotechnics, as well as more traditional materials such as wood, metal and paint. She creates sculptures and site-specific environments which play on the tension between ephemerality and permanence. Shirley explores in her work the power of direct communication of materials as the carriers of meaning, in keeping with a minimalist language developed from the 60’ onwards. Shirley specializes in outdoor installations working with raw industrial spaces, natural environments and public parks. She collaborates regularly with composers/musicians such as Shirish Korde, Algis Kizys, David Watson, Laura Ortman and Rhys Chatham to further her installations with sound compositions and live performances.

Shirley’s solo exhibitions include: 12.6 Lyrae, The Chimney, New York (2016) 0910 Light Shots, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2010); Arctic Lights, Dorfman Projects, New York (2010); Jewels of Kvinesdal, Kvinesdal, Norway (2009); Sunken City, Marc de Puechredon Gallery, Basel, Switzerland (2008); Sunken City Episode II, Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, NY (2008); Video Art in the Age of the Internet, Chelsea Art Museum (2007).

Shirley’s work has been featured in group exhibitions including: KAI art center opening performance, Tallinn, Estonia (2019), Chance Ecologies, Queens Museum (2016); Free City, Flint Public Art Project, Flint, Michigan (2017/2013); The Luminous Surface, Salisbury University, Maryland, USA (2015); Magnetic North: Artists of the Arctic Circle, UBS Art Gallery, New York, NY (2014); Sandnes 2160, Museum of Moving Image, Queens, NY (2013); [PAM] Cyland Festival, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (2009); Drift , National Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (2008); New York; Video As Urban Condition, Museum of Modern Art Linz, Linz, Austria (2007).

Selected fairs and biennials include: Context New York (2018/2017); Featured Project /Scope, New York and Miami (2005-2009); Docks Art fair/ Lyon (2009); The Dark Fair/Swiss Institute (2008); Mykonos Biennale

More info coming soon…

SAORI Worcester presents:

Loom in Essence, 2021

November 26 – December 24

SAORI weaving is an improvisational, contemporary art form from Japan. Its philosophy is based on the Zen principles of spontaneity and self-discovery. No patterns are utilized, thus no two pieces are ever alike.

SAORI Worcester is the first registered SAORI weaving studio in the US. Mihoko Wakabayashi has been teaching this artform to all ages and all abilities since 2000 in the studio and in the community. The exhibition shows not only the studio members’ individual expression but also the SAORI philosophy of inclusive diversity.

More info coming soon….