Marshall Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by Bay Area artist Chris McCaw. The show is comprised of intimately scaled and monumental pieces resulting from his unique “sunburn” photographic process, as well as previously unseen solarized landscapes and color polaroid works. Over the past two decades, McCaw (American, b. 1971) has perfected an inventive technique of exposing vintage darkroom papers directly in-camera, creating one-of-a-kind landscapes that trace the sun’s movement while testing the boundaries of analog photographic chemistry. Prolonged exposures burn and scar the photographic paper like a magnifying glass as the sun is focused by his enormous, custom-built cameras. A balancing act between the science of optics, astronomy, and artistic vision takes place as McCaw’s compositions must calculate for the season, weather, and earth’s rotation to create his dramatic views of the West Coast. Each work is a direct recording of celestial time and place.
"Sunburned GSP#1082 (Annular eclipse/Nevada)," 2023, Chris McCaw. Gelatin silver paper negative. Courtesy Marshall Gallery, Santa Monica. © Chris McCaw.