Leo Villareal (born 1967) is an American artist. His work combines

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

lights and encoded computer programming to create illuminated displays. He lives and works in New York City.

Early life and education

Villareal was born in 1967 in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, and raised in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

on both sides of the US/Mexico border. He graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School in 1986. He received a BA degree in Sculpture from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1990 and a graduate degree from

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

, in the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).

Career

The decisive moment that started his career came in Nevada's Black Rock desert during the 1997

Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...

festival, when Villareal rigged up a strobe-light array above his tent so that he could find it more easily. On March 5, 2013, Villareal debuted his largest piece to that date, '' The Bay Lights'', a public light installation consisting of 25,000

s strung on the vertical cables of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The installation cost $8 million to install and was activated nightly through 2015. It was replaced in 2016 with a permanent version. In July 17, 2019, the first stage of his '' Illuminated River'' project went live with lighting added to

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

Southwark Bridge Southwark Bridge ( ) is an arch bridge in London, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City of London, City across the River Thames. Besides when others are closed for temporary repairs, it has the least traffic of the List of ...

, Millennium Bridge, and Cannon Street bridges. Phase Two added Blackfriars Bridge,

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

, Lambeth Bridge, and the Golden Jubilee Bridges, and was completed in April 2021. His piece ''Optical Machine I'' was featured in The Miami Beach Edition hotel during the 2019 Art Basel art fair. His piece ''Liminal Gradient for (RED)'' was displayed at the 2018 (RED) auction.

Installations

Villareal is in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

(MoMA) in New York, the

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

and the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

in Washington, D.C., the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, as well as in the private collections of contemporary art collectors CJ Follini. His work has also been on display at the

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

in Washington, D.C.,

Madison Square Park Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, the fourth president of the United St ...

in New York City, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the PS 1 Contemporary Art Center in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

, New York, The Northpark Mall in Dallas, and

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

Art market

Villareal has been represented by

Pace Gallery The Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, ...

since 2016.Robin Scher (October 3, 2016)
Pace Gallery Now Represents Leo Villareal
''

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American art magazine, based in New York City. It covers visual arts from ancient to contemporary times. It is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. ''ARTnews'' has a readership of 180,000 in 124 co ...

''.

Gallery

File:Multiverse - Leo Villareal.JPG, ''Multiverse'', 2008, light sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC File:Multiverse light sculpture - HDR.jpg, ''Multiverse,'' 2008, light sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC File:Volume by Leo Villareal, LED Exhibit at Renwick Museum.jpg, ''Volume'', 2015, Renwick Gallery, Washington DC File:Infinite_Composition_at_Lindemann_Performing_Arts_Center.jpg, ''Infinite Composition,'' 2023, at the Lindemann Performing Arts Center

References

External links

Leo Villareal
* MTA's Arts For Transit �

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villareal, Leo Living people 1967 births Yale University alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni Artists from El Paso, Texas American installation artists Portsmouth Abbey School alumni Bridge light displays Lighting engineers