Bentley Meeker

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Bentley Meeker

The Penticton Art Gallery is excited to announce the first major Canadian solo exhibition by the Internationally renowned lighting designer Bentley Meeker here at the Penticton Art Gallery

The opening reception will take place on Saturday March 23^rd, 2019 from 7:00 pm – 1:00 am, with the artist in attendance.

Bentley Meeker (b. 1967 Roanoke, Virginia) is a NYC based contemporary artist and lighting designer who grew up in the Bahamas, and Canada before his family moved to New York City when he was 14.

Bentley’s artistic practice is primarily focused around the essence and exploration of what light is, what it means to us, how it affects us and what the changes in our collective use of light have been and are becoming. Art critics call him a visionary. With shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art and edgy downtown galleries like Gallery nine5, lighting artist Bentley Meeker has garnered international acclaim for his unparalleled ability to use light as a means to convert physical spaces into illuminating works of art.

“Light is the most powerful tool we have to create any feeling,” says Meeker.

Working from his studios in both the Hudson Yards district and in Spanish Harlem, Bentley has created numerous works and has exhibited at multiple institutions and galleries in the New York area and internationally. Bentley’s artistic practice is primarily focused around the essence and exploration of what light is, what it means to us and what the changes in our collective use of light have been and are becoming. He has shown at numerous galleries and museums, including the Whitney Museum of Art. In 2016, Meeker was commissioned by Michelle Obama to create a light sculpture for the Nordic state dinner at The White House.

Other projects have included large-scale public art pieces such as The “H” in Harlem, a giant sculpture lit with white full-spectrum plasma and LEDs suspended from the 125th Street and 12th Avenue viaduct in Harlem. And any “Burners” among us will want to take note that Bentley’s been a multi-year featured artist at Burning Man, creating the lighting for the event’s grandiose Temple structure in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Additionally, he has shown at the Southampton Center for the Arts in the former Parrish Art Museum Building, and has put up solo shows at the National Arts Club, the CORE club and multiple galleries in Chelsea and Soho. He also creates unique lighting environments for everything from galas to concerts to fashion shows, and his A-list clients include folks like Hilary and Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones among many others. He also lit up P Diddy’s 40th and 45th birthday parties, was retained by Michelle Obama to create the illumination for numerous White House state dinners.

In addition to his art practice Meeker is the founder and president of Bentley Meeker Lighting & Staging, Inc., a lighting company known for creating unique light environments for various events. www.bentleymeeker.com