Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection
Nov 27, 2020 – Jan 30, 2021
Understudy Gallery
14th St. and Stout
Denver Theatre District
Lumonics Mind Spa at Understudy Gallery
Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection, curated by Lumonics team member Marc Billard, features the light sculptures of artists Dorothy and Mel Tanner. The art works chosen for this exhibit span more than 40 years.
The Tanners co-created Lumonics, which is one of the earliest and longest-running light art studios in the US. Dorothy Tanner, who died in July, 2020 at the age of 97, was a recipient of the Denver Mayor’s Award for Innovation in the Arts.
The Lumonics Mind Spa is a concept developed by Dorothy who wanted her light sculptures and those of her late husband Mel Tanner to be experienced as a total art installation that fosters a state of comfort, relaxation, and creativity.
The art work can be seen from several windows of the Understudy Gallery at the intersection of Stout and 14th Street in the Denver Theatre District, with each angle of gazing providing another perspective. Understudy is located at the Colorado Convention Center / Theatre District light rail stop, and viewable to all from the train. It is truly a Light Intersection.
This is a “fishbowl” style installation you can view anytime from the outside, but it is best experienced after dark.
Understudy is free-to-visit and open to all.
The exhibition will be part of the Downtown Festival of Lights during the holidays.
Thanks to Third Dune Productions for these photos:
Place your mouse over a photo for the description or click on it to enlarge, then either x it out from the top or follow the arrow to move to the next photo.
Thanks to Minyoung Sohn for taking this video of the Lumonics Mind Spa exhibit at Understudy Gallery the night before the exhibit ended on Saturday, Jan 30th. Minyoung is on the Board of Trustees at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (MCA Denver):
Biographies of Dorothy Tanner, Mel Tanner, and Marc Billard
Lumonics is among the earliest and longest-running light art studios in the United States, originating in 1967.
Dorothy Tanner (1923-2020) was born in The Bronx, NY. She attended the Educational Alliance, Jefferson School of Social Science, and the Brooklyn Museum Art School. Her instructors included Chaim Gross, Gabor Peterdi, and Milton Hebald. While experimenting with many materials in her career, Dorothy found plexiglass to be the most rewarding. It is a material that she would sculpt, paint, sandblast, bake and shape. Light is an intrinsic element of the art form. While each sculpture stands alone as an artistic expression, her interest was also in integrating the works into a total environment — installations that express a powerful visual and emotional sensibility.
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Mel Tanner (1925-1993) was born in Brooklyn, NY. After serving overseas in the Army during the Second World War, he enrolled in art school under the G.I. Bill. He attended Pratt Institute and the Brooklyn Museum Art School. His background was in drawing and non-objective painting. His instructors included Max Beckmann, John Ferren, and Reuben Tam. Mel and Dorothy Tanner began their luminal art in Miami in the 1960s, adding the elements of live projection, electronics, and music to create a multi-sensory experience named Lumonics, with the intention to deeply affect people on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels: to relax, energize, and foster a sense of well-being.
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Marc Billard, long-time member of the studio, curated the exhibit at Understudy Gallery. He was born in Norwalk, CT in 1949. He is an artist, craftsman, videographer, musician, and curator. His videos have been shown at Night Lights Denver, Denver Digerati 2020, the Supernova Digital Animation Festival, The McNichols Civic Center Building, Museum of Outdoor Arts, Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery, and the Arts & Culture Center, Thornton.
Understudy is a first-of-its-kind arts and culture experimental space, located in Downtown Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. It is an incubator space dedicated to creative exploration. Understudy is free-to-visit and open to all.
Understudy is located at the Colorado Convention Center / Theatre District light rail stop near 14th and Stout. Look for the Shantell Martin art bench.
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Thank you to Immersive Denver for including this tribute to Dorothy Tanner in its end-of-year newsletter. It is so greatly appreciated.
Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection
This year was full of loss for so many, and among local immersive artists, that included renowned light art pioneer Dorothy Tanner. Dorothy’s collaborative work with her late husband, Mel Tanner, sought to embody the idea of gesamtkunstwerk, a “total art” installation that would foster a state of comfort, relaxation, and creativity. We are lucky in Colorado to be able to experience their legacy at the Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery. In addition, one of their Mind Spas can be experienced for a limited time now through January 30th, 2021 at Understudy (at the light rail stop for Theatre District / Convention Center). The installation is free to visit at anytime, viewable from the sidewalk, though recommended after dark.
-Thanks to Third Dune Production for the photo of “Paradigm” by Mel Tanner
photo courtesy of Third Dune Productions
Lumonics Mind Spa
Review by Mary Grace Bernard
Jan 20, 2021
Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection is bringing much-needed color and light to downtown Denver. The exhibition presents works by Dorothy Tanner (1923-2020) and Mel Tanner (1925-1993)—an artist couple who dedicated their life and art practice to the immersive experiences of visual art and to promoting the importance of physical, emotional, and spiritual awareness.
more
Thanks to Kate Perdoni, producer at Rocky Mountain PBS for her article and video about Lumonics:
‘Light Intersection’ electrifies Theatre District
photo of Paradigm by Mel Tanner
photo by: Third Dune Productions
“Space Flower” by Dorothy Tanner on display at the Lumonics Light and Sound Gallery in Denver’s northern reaches. Dec. 1, 2020.
Its art summoned relatives from the dead for some viewers. Fifty years later, the art collective Lumonics is still trippy.
The group has stayed together through loss, multiple relocations, and decades of living in a house together.
by Maggie Donahue (Jan. 25, 2021))
excerpt:
At the Colorado Convention Center, just steps away from the Big Blue Bear, Understudy’s latest fishbowl exhibition offers a time capsule beyond glass: a glimpse into the life’s work of a group of prolific light artists.
Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection is a collection of work by the Denver-based light art group Lumonics — specifically, the work of its late founders, Mel and Dorothy Tanner. Through January 31, visitors to the installation can stand on the sidewalk, peer through the glass and soak in the art: a series of colorful, LED-illuminated plexiglass sculptures best viewed at night.
This work is one of several of what Dorothy Tanner called “mind spas”: light art displays designed to be a soothing retreat for the mind.
link to article
Thanks to Maggie Donahue for featuring us on Colorado Public Radio!
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PATRICIA CALHOUN| DECEMBER 25, 2020
Lumonics Mind Spa: Light Intersection
Through January 31
Understudy Gallery, 700 14th Street
One of the big losses this year was artist Dorothy Tanner who, along with her late husband Mel Tanner, made light sculptures designed to create a state of comfort, relaxation and creativity. Many of them are currently installed in a “fishbowl” style installation at Understudy, located at the Colorado Convention Center — which is closed, but you can see the Lumonics exhibit through the window. Find out more here.
Dreamzone by Mel Tanner
