by Appointment at CASS Contemporary
All that GLEAMS is Gold at CASS Contemporary
GLEAM, the exhibition running now at CASS Contemporary proposes a deceptively simple premise: painting can be luminous. Yet the works gathered under this title suggest something more complex than an investigation of light. Rather, it seems that GLEAM explores how painting can evoke, in the technological glow, reflective surfaces, and speculative environments, a nostalgia articulated in a visual imagination. The result is an exhibition that situates a path towards painting’s future in the works of three of this generation’s most gifted and celebrated muralist and graffiti artists—Alex “Vizsla” Bacon, Drew Merritt, and Leon Keer.
One striking thing about GLEAM is that these effects are achieved entirely through paint. In an era when artists frequently turn to LEDs, projection, and digital media to evoke luminous environments, the painters in this exhibition rely on the traditional language of pigment and surface. Yet their works manage to conjure a glow and sheen of polished metal and plastic with remarkable conviction. Light seems to emanate from within the painted surface and perspective leaps from the wall as though the canvases themselves had become subtle sources of illumination.
This emphasis on internal luminosity connects the exhibition to a long tradition within painting. One might think of the atmospheric glow of J. M. W. Turner, whose canvases dissolved the solidity of the landscape into radiant fields of color, or the shimmering surfaces of Impressionism, where light became the central subject of the painted image. But GLEAM feels less indebted to those historical precedents than to the visual culture of remembered fiction. The paintings do not simply depict light; they stage encounters with environments that feel nostalgic for technology, anachronistically iconic, or simply romantically reenvisioned.
For example, Alexander “Vizsla” Bacon is a prominent Canadian muralist and graffiti artist who has spent over three decades evolving from a teenage street artist in Toronto to an internationally acclaimed fine artist. His work is celebrated for its unique fusion of raw, high-energy graffiti lettering with the meticulous precision of hyper-realism. Often incorporating themes of nature and human anatomy—Bacon deconstructs traditional spray-painting techniques to create “living” surfaces. His style is characterized by a “liquid” aesthetic where metallic textures and organic forms seem to ripple and flow across massive urban canvases, transforming static walls into immersive, dreamlike experiences.
A defining hallmark of Bacon’s technical mastery is his sophisticated use of dramatic lighting and reflective surfaces. Unlike traditional flat graffiti, his pieces utilize aerosol to “sculpt” depth, employing high-contrast highlights and deep shadows to mimic the way light hits chrome, water, or silk. As one can see from his ray gun depiction Lucy, by layering translucent glazes and sharp, white “hot spots,” he creates a sense of luminescence that makes his subjects appear three-dimensional—with the light providing the depth and a strange, brightened chiaroscuro. Indeed, in Lucy, one can faintly make out a sparkle on top of the gun while its reflective barrel seems to hold a mystery—who is holding this gun? This play of light not only adds a futuristic, vintage sci-fi sheen (think Fallout) to his work but also serves a narrative purpose, grounding a surreal composition in a believable, atmospheric reality that seems steeped in an otherworldly memory.
A different GLEAM comes from Drew Merritt. His Out of the Chute is a quintessential example of his ability to weave his rural New Mexico upbringing into the high-contrast, “Renaissance-on-the-street” style that defines his career. And yet, there is something very Baroque about the way the painting captures a cowboy in that split second of maximum tension—in media res, the explosive moment of release as the rider and beast struggle for superiority. True to Merritt’s aesthetic, the composition is stripped of a traditional background, leaving the subject suspended in a vast, minimalist space. Unless they are looking at themselves in the mirror, this isolation forces the viewer to focus entirely on the kinetic energy of the scene: the straining muscles of the horse, the desperate grip of the rider, and the chaotic swirl of dust and motion and unbroken spirit.
The use of light in Out of the Chute is particularly masterful, acting as the primary tool for defining the work’s drama. Merritt employs a harsh, top-down lighting scheme that mimics the unforgiving sun of a high-noon rodeo or the artificial glare of arena floodlights. This creates deep, obsidian and browned shadows that “carve” the figures out of the mirror/canvas, extending even onto the brassy, oval frame, emphasizing the grit. The light catches the texture of the horse’s mane and the frayed edges of the rider’s gear with a delicate precision, while the surrounding mirrored space acts as a vacuum, making the intensity of the struggle feel both monumental and timeless—less like a sports photograph and more like a religious icon of the Northern Renaissance, but drawn from the American West.
The third artist, Leon Keer, is a celebrated Dutch pop-surrealist artist internationally recognized for his mastery of anamorphic, 3D street art. His work often serves as a poignant commentary on contemporary society, frequently addressing environmental concerns and the “diseased spirit” of modern times. By blending playful, nostalgic imagery with darker, unsettling themes of decay and social instability, Keer uses his art as a metaphor for the fragility of life. His creations—which have graced streets from Europe to Australia—are often designed to be temporary, a quality he believes strengthens their existence by forcing viewers to engage with the present moment.
Keer’s “In Case Of Lost Childhood” (2020), reflects his recurring interest in themes of memory, innocence, and the transition of the human experience. As with much of his work, the piece utilizes Keer’s signature ability to manipulate perspective, subject contrast and texture to create an immersive visual impact. By contrasting elements of beauty and childhood joy against imagery that suggests the long ongoing threat of emergency (here the aged red paint of the emergency box) Keer encourages observers who are constantly confronted by the complexities of a horrid world (sound familiar?) to return to a revisioned childhood innocence that they put up long ago.
In all, I feel like the exhibition is onto something with this idea of GLEAM, but there is more to it than the artistic use of light. The GLEAM I am sensing—given this idealized collection of toys and celebrated heroes from an earlier age—is one of Christmas morning and the glow of the holiday lights or, to avoid Christian-centrism, the candle lights of a Birthday celebration or maybe even the glow of a romanticized youth. Whether a science-fiction ray gun or a “Letter Blocks Tipping Lorry” toy, or a heroic cowboy, all that GLEAMS in the exhibition seems to share a possible origin as a gift for a child who is now grown.
To be sure, this “Gleam” isn’t a “Benjaminian Aura,” in fact it is just the opposite. Here, the uniqueness comes only from the subject’s time, and the first value as gift stems from the act and extent of the mechanical reproduction itself (as in everyone had one that year). Importantly, the value increases with the age and nostalgia and these luminous surfaces echo the glow (GLEAM?) of an idealized Western and capitalistic culture, even as they criticize it. See especially, Keer’s Anthropocene, “Fire 4 Globes One At A Time,” (our featured image) or his Fragile Foundation. Ultimately, it seems that expecting a unified expression of art might miss the point, and even be inauthentic. I mean, the world is a horribly complicated place, why not its art?
This is an amazing and fun show that can be seen at CASS Contemporary in WeHo by appointment; it will continue through the final Saturday of April. Further, the folks at CASS contemporary have generously partnered with the United Way of Greater Nashville to donate a portion of the proceeds from GLEAM’s sales to the Winter Storm Recovery Fund. If you wish to make an appointment, contact them here: https://www.casscontemporary.com/contact
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Joseph E. Morgan is a father of two, husband, teacher and recovering guitarist in Middle Tennessee.
