Spencer Finch

Spencer Finch is best known for ethereal light installations that visualise his experience of natural phenomena. His investigations into the nature of light, colour, memory and perception manifest in watercolours, drawings, video and photographs. Compelled by what he describes as ‘the impossible desire to see oneself seeing’, Finch holds up an enchanting prism between the outer world and inner thought. He distills his observations of the world into glowing abstract colour but also diverts them through cultural and historical filters: in homage to Emily Dickinson’s 1862 poem Before I got my eye put out, he measured the sunlight in her Massachusetts garden then recreated the effect of a passing cloud by means of fluorescent tubes covered in gel and suspended theatre filters. He has painted the changing shades of grey on Sigmund Freud’s ceiling in Vienna, Austria, viewed from the psychoanalyst’s couch and later, in 102 Colors from My Dreams (2002), recorded the colours he saw in his sleep then colour-matched inks to make a sequence of Rorschach blots. His monumental installation Trying To Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning (2014), on display at the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York, features a mosaic of hand-painted shades of blue, while his Crossrail commission for Paddington Station in London, A Cloud Index, consists of a 120m long canopy depicting more than 32 cloud types.

Spencer Finch was born in New Haven, CT, USA in 1962 and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA. He has a BA in comparative literature from Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, USA (1985) and an MFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, RI, USA (1989). Solo exhibitions include ‘Lux and Lumen’, Hill Art Foundation, New York, USA (2022); Arcadia University, Spruance Gallery, Glenside, PA, USA (2019); ‘Fifteen Stones (Ryoanji)’, Fundacio Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, Spain (2018); ‘Cosmic Latte’, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA, USA (2017); ‘Lost Man Creek’, Public Art Fund, New York, NY, USA (2016); Marfa Contemporary, TX, USA (2014), Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, USA (2013), the Art Institute of Chicago, USA (2011), Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, USA (2007) and Portikus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (2003). He participated in the Folkestone Triennial, UK (2011) and the 53rd Venice Biennale, Italy (2009). Public commissions include ‘Bring me the sunset in a cup’, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, USA (2023); Crossrail, London, UK (2019); the Public Art Fund, New York, NY USA (2016); and The High Line, New York, NY, USA (2008).

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

‘Bring me the sunset in a cup’, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, USA (2023)

Spencer Finch
Cloud (cumulus, Glacier National Park)

2023
Scotch tape on matboard mounted to Dibond
101.6 x 139.7 cm
40 x 55 in

Spencer Finch
Reciting poetry at the greening of spring

2023
14 LED lamps and fixtures, filters (7 - 2 ft, 5 - 3 ft, 2 - 4 ft fixtures)
Approx: 274.3 x 274.3 x 6.4 cm
Approx: 108 x 108 x 2 1/2 in

Spencer Finch
Study for Ulysses (Flatbush Avenue)

2023
Patone swatches and pencil on paper
75.5 x 105.7 cm
29 3/4 x 41 5/8 in

Spencer Finch
Color Notes (Spring) 2020, II

2022
Watercolor on paper
25 parts, each: 17.8 x 17.8 cm
25 parts, each: 7 x 7 in

Spencer Finch
A Cloud Index, 2016

Paddington station (Elizabeth line), London, UK, 2022
Commissioned as part of The Crossrail Art Programme.
© Spencer Finch; Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
Photo: GG Archard, 2022
Installation view

Spencer Finch
Usuyuki III (Fog)

2021
Tulle, thread, steel rods 109.2 x 160 x 26.7 cm / 43 x 63 x 10 1/2 in

Spencer Finch
Crawford Path up Mt. Pierce, NH (after a spring snowstorm)

2021
Benjamin Moore Paint swatches and pencil on paper 74.9 x 104.8 cm / 29 1/2 x 41 1/4 in

$Cloud (cumulus fractus under stratus, Connecticut)$

Spencer Finch
Cloud (cumulus fractus under stratus, Connecticut)

2021
Scotch tape on mat board 55.9 x 76.2 cm 22 x 30 in

Spencer Finch
4 Color Notes (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) 2019, IV

2020
Watercolor on paper 17.8 x 17.8 cm each / 7 x 7 in each

Spencer Finch
Shadow of Orange Tree (after Lorca)

2020
Fluorescent fixtures and filters (6 - 2’ fixtures, 3 - 3’ fixtures, 1 - 4’ fixture) Installed: 227.3 x 237.8 x 7.6 cm / Installed: 89 1/2 x 93 5/8 x 3 in

Spencer Finch
Study for Saiph

2019
Fluorescent fixture and filters (1 - 4’ bulb) 5.1 x 121.9 x 5.1 cm / 2 x 48 x 2 in

Spencer Finch
Falling Cherry Blossoms

2019
Watercolor on folded paper Dimensions variable (11 parts)

Spencer Finch
After image of the sun (Winter sunset)

2019
Ink on Kozo paper 62.5 x 83.8 cm / 24 5/8 x 33 in

Spencer Finch
Western Mystery (She sweeps with many-colored Brooms) #6

2019
Yarn and acrylic on paper 74.9 x 104.8 cm / 29 1/2 x 41 1/4 in

Spencer Finch
Yellowstone Hike (Clear Lake Trail)

2018
Pantone swatches and pencil on paper 75.2 x 105.1 cm / 29 5/8 x 41 3/8 in

Spencer Finch
Skagen Landscape (Skagerrak and Kattegat from Grenen)

2018
Watercolor and pencil on paper 77 x 56 cm / 30 1/4 x 22 in

Spencer Finch
Following a Bee (Zinnias)

2018
Pastel and pencil on paper 76.8 x 111.8 cm / 30 1/4 x 44 in

Spencer Finch
Kepler 186

2017
Aluminum, fluorescent fixtures, and filters 188 cm diameter / 74 x 74 in

Spencer Finch
Bauhaus (Paul Klee’s studio, afternoon effect, 10/31/15)

2017
Fujitrans and LED lightbox 81.3 x 81.3 x 11.5 cm / 32 x 32 x 4 1/2 in

Spencer Finch
Falling Leaves (Maple)

2017
Watercolor and pencil on paper 74.3 x 104.8 cm / 29 1/4 x 41 1/4 in

Spencer Finch
Mars (Sunrise)

2016
Fluorescents, fixtures, filters Dimensions variable, size as installed at Lisson Gallery 610 x 765 cm 240 1/8 x 301 3/16 in.

Spencer Finch
Sunflower (Bee's View, Zebulon)

2016
Pastel and pencil on paper 76 x 76 cm 30 x 30 in.

Spencer Finch
Still Life (Tulips) morning, noon, afternoon, evening effect

2016
Watercolour on paper 4 panels: 56 x 43 cm each 4 panels: 22 1/8 x 17 in. each

Spencer Finch
Morning Light Walden Pond (April 18th, 2013)

2013
LED lightbox, fujitrans 124.5 x 124.5 x 12.7 cm 49 x 49 x 5 in.

Spencer Finch
Paper Moon (Studio Wall at Night)

2012
Mixed media Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
Studio Radiator (Thermal Images)

2012
Archival inkjet print 28.6 x 28.1 cm 11 1/4 x 11 1/16 in.

Spencer Finch
Studio Window (Infrared, January, 25 2012, Morning Effect)

2012
Oil pastel on paper 119.1 x 83.8 cm 78 3/8 x 33 in.

Spencer Finch
My Desk 1/29/12 (1/2 Scale)

2012
Paper collage 44.8 x 82.9 cm 17 5/8 x 32 5/8 in.

Spencer Finch
Vanitas (Tulips)

2012
Archival inkjet prints 42 x 42 cm 16 9/16 x 16 9/16 in.

Spencer Finch
Paths through the Studio

2011
Oil pastel on paper 266 x 628 cm 104 3/4 x 247 1/4 in.

Spencer Finch
Sunset from the Studio Roof (12/9/11)

2012
LED lightbox, Fujitrans, filter 57.8 x 70.5 x 2.9 cm 22 3/4 x 27 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.

Spencer Finch
Bee Flight Patterns

2011
Watercolour on paper 28.6 x 34.6 cm 11 1/4 x 13 5/8 in.

Spencer Finch
Eleven Melting Snowflakes, Brooklyn, NY, 12/31/08

2008
Snowflakes on paper (Arches Bright White Hot Press) 64.1 x 82.9 cm 25 1/4 x 32 5/8 in.

Spencer Finch
Exactly 4 o'clock in the Afternoon (Studio Freight Elevator, 4/21/10)

2010
Light projection Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
West (Sunset in My Motel Room, Monument Valley, January 26, 2007, 5:36-6:06 PM)

2007
9 channel synchronized video installation with 9 TV monitors Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
White (Niagara Falls obscured by mist, April 17th 5:50pm)

2006
Lightbox and filters 50.8 x 20.3 cm 51. 20 x 8 in.

Spencer Finch
Taxonomy of Clouds

2006
17 inkjet prints

Spencer Finch
Taxonomy of Clouds (detail)

2006
Archival inkjet print

Spencer Finch
Kaaterskill Falls (July 30, 2006, 12:37PM)

2006
Fluorescent light boxes with laminated filters 188 x 127 x 20 cm and 142 x 97 x 20 cm 74 x 50 x 7 7/8 in. and 55 15/16 x 34 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.

Spencer Finch
Dusk (Hudson River Valley 10/30/2005)

2005
Filters, clothespins, fishing line, fluorescent lights

Spencer Finch
Dusk (Hudson River Valley 10/30/2005)

2005
Filters, clothespins, fishing ling, fluorescent lights

Spencer Finch
Sunrise (Over the Atlantic Ocean, September 6)

2004
165 fluorescent tubes, coloured plastic Length 3048 cm Length 1200 in.

Spencer Finch
Sky (Over Coney Island, November 26th, 2004, 12:47pm. Southwest view over the Cyclone.)

2004
Balloons, helium and string Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
Night Sky, Over the Painted Desert, Arizona, 1/9/04

2004
87 lamps, 401 bulbs Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
Sunlight in an Empty Room (Passing Cloud for Emily Dickinson, Amherst, MA, August 28, 2004)

2004
100 fluorescent lights, filters, clothespins Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
Sunlight in an Empty Room (Passing Cloud for Emily Dickinson, Amherst, MA, August 28, 2004)

2004
100 fluorescent lights, filters, clothespins Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch
Sunset (South Texas, 6/21/03)

2003
Fluorescent lights, filters 40.6 x 101.6 cm 16 x 40 in.

Spencer Finch
Paris/Texas

2003
Sandblasted stained glass Installation view: ArtPace, San Antonio, Texas 30.5 x 71.1 cm 12 x 28 in.

Spencer Finch
Moonlight (Luna County New Mexico, July 13, 2003)

2005
Filters and tape Dimensions variable

Spencer Finch

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

Exhibitions