September 25 – November 7, 2020

The exhibition’s title refers to multiple metaphors of light. It is a term for the planet Venus used to indicate its brightness and unique movements in the night sky. Due to these cosmic nuances, mythology surrounding Venus often features the motif of a divine being falling from grace. Lucifer (‘light-bringer’) is a Latin name used for mythological and religious figures associated with the planet.

Drawing on photography’s relationship to light, space and time, Beckly’s new body of work comprised of images, sculptures and a public billboard installation. Working with natural and spectral forms, Beckly cultivates a visual language of colours and textures by revealing poetic links between optics and haptics, materiality and sensuality. Printed on materials of varying opacity, reflectivity and dimension, Beckly’s works are affected by light and the position of the viewer’s body. Suspending in the gallery space and protruding from the walls, they exist in a tenuous balance. Considering darkness as the companion of light, Lightbringer reaches into the realm of the unknown for a deeper look at intimacy and relationships.

Steven Beckly is a Chinese artist and photographer based in Toronto. Recent and upcoming solo exhibitions include The heart can’t wait at Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto (2020); and Love S.O.S. at Centre3, Hamilton (2019). Beckly’s work has been featured in exhibitions at the Remai Modern, Saskatoon (2019); The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2019); and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2017). He is represented by Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto.

Exhibition publication Lightbringer contains works by Steven Beckly and text by Fan Wu.

The artist would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council.

Photo Documentation by Chelsea Yang-Smith.