Study for the Rose Window at Saint-Denis, 2023, 4 LED lamps, fixtures and filters, 145.8 x 154 cm
»Study for the Rose Window at Saint-Denis«
Focus
Spencer Finch’s work Study for the Rose Window at Saint-Denis re-creates the light measured one morning from the North Rose Window at the Cathedral at Saint-Denis in Paris, France, the earliest surviving Gothic building. The cathedral’s twelfth century reconstruction in the Gothic style was overseen by Abbot Suger, who believed in the power of stained glass to transform natural light, lux, into sacred light, or lumen. The work is a study for the larger installation Rose Window at Saint-Denis.
Working in watercolor, drawing, sculpture, photography, and installation, Spencer Finch attempts to faithfully recreate his impressions of natural phenomena and the landscapes that surround him. The artist observes, documents, and studies color and light effects with scientific precision. He distills his findings into ethereal works—most notably large-scale installations that filter or transform natural light, or create synthetic light effects. For example, in The River That Flows Both Ways (2009), a commission for New York City’s High Line, he painted 700 individual panes of glass in different shades of blue to reflect subtle chromatic changes in the Hudson River over 700 minutes in a single day. His pieces consider how history, memory, and sensory subjectivity shape individual perceptions. Finch has installed public works in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has been the subject of exhibitions around the world. Finch’s work belongs in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the GuggenheimMuseum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others.