Transforming pixels using the zeroes and ones of binary code into dazzling displays of light, Mexican-American artist Leo Villareal creates abstract installations that are icons of public art. Employing artist-created code and custom software, his innovative practice explores chance, rules, and the underlying structure of systems. Leo Villareal: Coding Light features more than 30 works ranging in scale – from exhibitions and immersive architectural commissions like Cosmos at Cornell University, to urban-scale artworks such as his seminal work, Illuminated River, which joins nine central-London bridges to illuminate the Thames with subtly shifting light patterns along the River Thames in London – and includes work from over two decades of the artist’s career.
