Doug Wheeler, “Untitled,” vacuum-formed acrylic, sprayed lacquer on acrylic, electronic transformer, and daylight neon, 1969/2014 (© 2016 Doug Wheeler)
David Zwirner
525 West 19th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday – Saturday through March 5, free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
212-727-2070
www.davidzwirner.com
Two years ago, people lined up at the David Zwirner gallery in Chelsea to experience Doug Wheeler’s “LC 71 NY DZ 13 DW,” a mesmerizing, meditative “rotational horizon work” that altered visitors’ perception of physical reality and sense of equilibrium. Don’t be surprised if you have to wait on line again to see his latest show, the captivating “Encasements,” which closes this Saturday. Since the late 1960s, the Santa Fe–based Light and Space artist has been creating large-size square panels (90.5 x 90.5 inches, either three, five, or nine inches deep) out of vacuum-formed acrylic, sprayed lacquer, an electronic transformer, and white UV or daylight neon. The light seeps out from the sides and transforms the space — from which all ambient light and architectural detail have been removed — into a cosmic mystery. In each Encasement, the room and the light combine to envelop the viewers’ senses completely, and many wander around, happily unable to get a grasp on where the walls are, especially the corners, without visual or spatial cues. It’s an intoxicating, dizzying experience, and at Zwirner, Wheeler is displaying five of the works, the most ever shown together. Each of the five rooms offers slightly different effects, particularly the one with the panel in an aluminum frame in which the light/color emanates from the center, one of only two such encasements Wheeler has ever made, on view to the public here for the first time. You’ll have to put paper protectors over your shoes in order to enter the pristine space, but once inside, you should glory in the fab wonder of it all, taking it in slowly, making sure not to hurry. It’s more than just an immersive experience; it overwhelms senses you’re usually in more control of, but it’s worth letting yourself go to fully enjoy this, dare we say, luminous environment.