[A solid light film] exists only in the present: the moment of projection. It refers to nothing beyond this real time. It contains no illusion. It is a primary experience, not secondary: i.e., the space is real, not referential; the time is real, not referential. No longer is one viewing position as good as any other…every viewing position presents a different aspect. The viewer therefore has a participatory role in apprehending the event: he or she can, indeed needs, to move around relative to the slowly emerging light form. -Anthony McCall, 1974

Anthony McCall is a key figure in the history of avant-garde cinema. He has carved a unique position in contemporary art by bridging the gaps between the cinematic, the sculptural and the pictorial by means of his extraordinary ‘solid light’ films, which manifest as immersive installations made by drawing in real space with projected light.

The Adam Art Gallery brought McCall and his ‘solid light films’ to New Zealand for the first time. Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light, a major exhibition timed to coincide with the 2010 New Zealand International Arts Festival, was an opportunity to experience McCall’s ‘solid light ’ installations in the complex and labyrinthine spaces of the Adam Art Gallery, and offered insights into the full range of his output and working process showing a range of drawings, films and photographic works produced across the entire history of his practice.

A public programme of artist talks, film screenings, and discussion expanded on the exhibition to place the works of this British-born, New York-based artist in context. A highlight of this programme included the one-off opportunity to view Line Describing a Cone (1973), McCall’s first ‘solid light film’. This was presented at the Wellington Town Hall, in conjunction with the New Zealand Film Archive on Monday 15 March 2010.

Anthony McCall’s works feature in major international collections including Tate Gallery, London, England; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA; the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Spain; and the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany.

Anthony McCall currently lives and works in New York. He is represented by Sean Kelly Gallery, New York; Thomas Zander, Cologne and Galerie Martine Aboucaya, Paris.

This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of Chartwell Trust; Keystone Trust; David and Libby Richwhite; The Clark Collection; Fulbright New Zealand; Spyglass; Interface; Metro Productions; John Herber Ltd; Auckland City Council Public Art Team; Atlantic Pacific American Express; the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery; the New Zealand Film Archive; LUX, London and the New Zealand International Arts Festival.