Dr. Pierre-Jacques Pemuit
Dr. Pierre-Jacques Pemuit visited Lumonics in August, 2022. Dr. Pemuit teaches the history of light art at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). He is also a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. He discovered the art of the Tanners in his research on a book he is writing on artists working with light in the U.S., dating back to the early 20th century, such as Thomas Wilfred (1889-1968) and American abstract painters such as The Synchronists (Morgan Russell (1886 – 1953) and Stanton Macdonald-Wright ( 1890 – 1973).
Because of a media project at the University of Colorado – Boulder, he had the opportunity to come to the U.S. from Paris for the first time since the pandemic began. He emailed asking if he could spend a morning at Lumonics with us.
Dr. Penuit wrote, “While I first learned of the Tanners’ work with light a while ago during the first phase of my PhD research, I never had the opportunity to experience any of their work. I am really curious to learn more about them and get my hands on more detailed information on their life and work to include these in my teachings and writings on media art. I would also be delighted to meet those who keep the legacy of the Tanners’ work active in Denver.”
We had a wonderful visit, taking him on a tour of the studio where we were updating to LED one of Mel Tanner’s light sculptures from the early 1980s; and our Lumonics School of Light Art, and light art gallery. The visit concluded with a mini-Lumonics Immersed experience in the performance space.
Dr. Pemuit told us that he has visited light art studios and light art museum exhibits all over the world, and that he never saw such a cohesive exhibit before, knowing that he is only seeing a fraction of the total body of art. He mentioned a now deceased light artist from Germany who had a large body of work from the 1960s but the collection is in poor condition, and was astounded how the artworks at Lumonics that are over 50 years old look like they were just completed!
We continue to be in touch and have sent him archival material so he can introduce the art of the Tanners and the Lumonics artform in his classes and seminars.