EXHIBITION: Solar Relics
Solar Relics
CHRIS MCCAW
Friday, March 7, 2025 – Saturday, April 19, 2025
PREVIEW & ARTIST TALK | Thursday, March 6, 2025 [RSVP HERE]
OPENING RECEPTION | Friday, March 7, 2025
Chris McCaw, Sunburned GSP#1105 (Pacific Ocean), 2024. four unique gelatin silver paper negatives, 40 x 12 inches each, 40 x 48 inches total. INQUIRE
Solar Relics marks Chris McCaw’s third solo exhibition at Candela Gallery, showcasing his continually evolving, innovative exploration of light, time, and material. The exhibition spotlights new and old works marked by the sun using solar exposure as both medium and process, grounding photography in its most elemental form. With in-camera solarization, overexposure, and experimental techniques, each image becomes an artifact of radiant transformation. Projects on view include:
(L-R) Instant #88, Instant#92, Instant #90, 2023. Unique Diffusion Transfer Print, 4.25 x 3.25 inches each. INQUIRE
Instant and Versicolor are part of a new series of Fujiroids (a color instant film process) that continue McCaw’s exploration of light and material with experimental exposure and color filtration techniques. Using instant print material, a now-obsolete medium, McCaw’s images shift reality beyond the ordinary spectrum and form abstract, landscape-like patterns. Each dye diffusion print is made on location, capturing the unpredictable effects of solar energy in a unique, tangible form.
Inverse #112 (Mojave), 2024. Two Unique Paper Negatives, Partial In-Camera Solarizations, 16 x 20 inches each, 16 x 40 inches total. INQUIRE
Inverse builds upon McCaw’s two-decades-long investigation into in-camera solarization, refining the technique to create images where negative and positive tonalities coexist within a single frame. Using custom dark slides and double exposures, McCaw amplifies the contrast between these opposing states, resulting in large-format works highlighting analog photography's enduring authenticity. The series Inverse, one of which was recently collected by the Library of Congress, reflects McCaw's dedication to grounding photography in the direct, physical interaction with light.
Chris McCaw: Solar Relics
ARTIST TALK | THURSDAY, MARCH 6
Doors at 6pm, Talk at 6:30pm
About the Artist
Chris McCaw (b. 1971, Daly City, CA) is a photographer whose experimental practice explores the relationship between photography, time, and the sun. Beginning his journey in the darkroom at age 13, McCaw first documented California’s skateboarding, zine, and punk scenes before falling in love with large-format cameras and alternative printing processes. His groundbreaking Sunburn series harnesses the sun’s intensity, using handmade cameras and powerful lenses to burn direct marks onto photographic paper, transforming time and celestial movement into tangible records. His work has been exhibited internationally and is held in major museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. His work is the subject of two monographic publications: Sunburn (Candela Books, 2012) and Marking Time (Datz Books, 2023). He lives and works in San Francisco, California.