C. DUTCH
Qualities of Light
FEB 7 - 21, 2025
Artist Reception
Friday, Feb 7, 4 - 7pm
 

CODA Gallery is pleased to present "Qualities of Light," an exhibition of new work by award-winning experimental artist, C. Dutch. Come meet the artist at an opening reception on Friday, February 7, 4 - 7 pm, during El Paseo's Art Walk on First Friday. Enjoy a wine bar featuring organic wines and other beverages, benefiting Angel View, a Coachella Valley nonprofit dedicated to serving children and adults with disabilities. A portion of the evening’s art sales will be donated to support Angel View, founded in 1954 at a natural hot mineral water spring in Desert Hot Springs.
 

"Qualities of Light" showcases C. Dutch's latest exploration of the dynamic interplay between light, color, and form. A graduate of ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Dutch has received numerous awards and acknowledgments for his photographic achievements. His inventiveness and constant experimentation with many forms of lighting lead him to creating many eye-catching images for several Fortune 500 companies. C. Dutch transitioned into an inventor/product developer, with over a dozen patented lighting devices for photographers and consumers.

Based on years of testing and research and development, C. Dutch creates works that emphasize experimentation, exploration and play. He uses materials such as handmade optics, polymer films, acrylics, and resin to explore the formal qualities of light and color.

Inside each Lucite box composition, light is shaped, bent and sculptured as if a solid, then blended, merged, and projected into an illusion of three dimensionality. This can challenge the viewers’ perceptions of light and color leading to an attempt to deconstruct it and solve the complexities of the illusion.

The work appears to be a powered light box. It collects and uses available light which in turn is amplified back into the environment and to the spectator. Dutch’s recent pieces, Arrays, Phototonics, and Botanicals, hover between the realms of painting and sculpture. Influences include Southern California art movements such as the light and space movement, finish fetish aesthetics and Op art. Each work is uniquely influenced by perceptions such as the physiological effects of light.
 

“Light in a work can express many emotions, including strength, sensitivity,
awe, wonder, calm, and enlightenment.” – C. Dutch