Casper Brindle: Numina

Santa Monica, CA - William Turner Gallery is pleased to present Numina, Casper Brindle’s first solo exhibition at the gallery in four years. In the interim, Brindle has hed numerous national and international exhibitions, including an extensive exhibition in 2022 at The Luckman Gallery, Cal State LA. Numina will run from January 25 - March 22, 2025.

Numina, presents two bodies of work, Light Glyphs and Veils, each of which involve dramatic investigations into light, color and the fluid, ever shifting nature of perception.  The exhibition ranges from painting to sculpture, and exemplifies Brindle’s restless experimentation and evolving modes of expression. The works are poetic, sensual and spatially dynamic. Utilizing automotive paints and pigmented acrylic, Brindle has created works that reflect and diffuse light in ways that are nuanced and engaging. 

Brindle’s Light Glyph’s, are luminescent and mercurial sculptures, constantly shifting in hue as the viewer moves around them. Absorbing and reflecting light, they have a meditative quality that calls one’s attention to the moment, and the subtle shifts within that moment. The word Light, in the series’ title, references perception and the power of light to illuminate, to inspire, and to guide. The glowing vertical bands in the center are the Glyphs, which act as mantra-like focal points for the viewer. The Glyphs also reference ancient, pre-linguistic  modes of communication, where symbols or marks were carved in relief to convey ideas in lieu of words. This exhibition introduces new extensions to the series, where, in addition to single works, the Light Glyphs are  presented now in various groupings, which foster a rhythmic, jazz-like interaction to one’s experience. 

The Veils introduce Brindle’s newest series, where diaphanous washes of color float on elegantly suspended sheets of acrylic. Painted in layers from the back of these sleek, crystalline surfaces, the paintings are bold and captivating. For Brindle, they are an abstracted homage to those moments of awe, where we find ourselves in nature’s thrall. Unsurprisingly, Brindle cites his love of nature, and the ocean in particular, as major sources of inspiration, where the artist has spent innumerable hours studying the sensory effects of light across its constantly changing surfaces.

Numina also presents Brindle at the dynamic leading edge of a dialogue, between artwork and viewer, that began in Southern California in the late 60s and early 70s and became known as Light & Space. The shift that began it all was as subtle as it was profound. The idea and purpose of the artwork shifted; from object to catalyst; from looking “at" the artwork to our experience of “perceiving” the artwork. Artist’s like Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Helen Pashgian, Fred Eversley, and many others, began to explore this notion of how their work could heighten one’s experience and perception. For Casper Brindle, that initial sensibility has been embraced with an adventurous spirit, leading in boldly new and exciting directions.

Born in Toronto in 1968, Brindle’s family relocated to Los Angeles in 1974 from the United Kingdom, and he has called the city home ever since. By Brindle's early twenties he moved to the burgeoning art scene in Venice CA, where many of LA’s cutting edge artists had studios. It was there that the artist became immersed in the ideas of Light & Space, with which he has worked ever since.

Casper Brindle’s work has been exhibited across the United States and internationally. His work is held in numerous prominent private and museum collections including the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, The Laguna Art Museum, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, and the Morningside College Collection in Sioux City, IA.