LIGHT AND SPACE is an artists’ network that originated in Southern California in the 1960s, focusing on perceptual phenomena, especially involving light, volume, and spatial experience.

LIGHT AND SPACE artists were inspired by innovative technical materials, which allowed them to explore new ways of manipulating light, space, and perception. They embraced materials such as industrial glass, acrylic, resin, Plexiglas, fluorescent light tubes, and neon, which could engage light differently through transparency and diffusion, reflection, and refraction.

The use of these materials was often influenced by advances in industrial manufacturing and technology, allowing artists to harness cutting-edge synthetics and lighting technologies not previously available in art studios. For example, Larry Bell and Helen Pashgian used glass and resin to create optical effects involving light transmission and reflection; James Turrell and Doug Wheeler capitalized on electric light and architectural spaces to shape perception; Mary Corse applied glass microspheres to generate surfaces that react dynamically with ambient light. These technical materials facilitated an emphasis on the phenomenological—how art is experienced through perception—making the observer’s sensory experience fundamental.

LIGHT AND SPACE ARTISTS