LUMEN
ABOUT LUMEN
Lumen is an art organisation, focused on themes of astronomy, light and the natural world.
Through artworks, exhibitions, residencies and seminars we aim to raise a dialogue about how humans have understood the sun, moon and stars throughout time, peering through the lenses of spirituality, science and ecology.
We are keen to understand how different civilisations have conceived of our skies, in a variety of time periods and in a range of locations. We draw inspiration from ancient, indigenous ancestors alongside cutting edge contemporary science and astronomy.
The co-directors of Lumen are Louise Beer, Melanie King and Rebecca Huxley.
The Story
In 2022, Lumen embarked on Glacial Movements and the Ghaib, an expedition to several glaciers in the Hunza region of Pakistan. The expedition culminated in a series of exhibitions in Pakistan and the UK, supported by the British Council New Perspectives programme.
In 2021, Lumen produced an exhibition for An Lanntair as part of the Hebridean Dark Sky Festival.
In 2020, Lumen received funding from Arts Council England, to produce a video commission, Our Night Skies, for 20 artists. The funding enabled Lumen to lead several online reading groups, seminars and workshops during the coronavirus pandemic period.
Lumen have been commissioned by the British Science Association, Green Man Festival, The Museum of Freemasonry, Blue Dot Festival, Phytology Nature Reserve, Vivid Projects Birmingham.
Lumen first launched at The Crypt Gallery in Saint Pancras on the Winter Solstice in December 2014. Since then, Lumen has curated exhibitions about a wide range of subjects including the detrimental effects of light pollution, the representation of voids and black holes.
From May 2015 to March 2022, Lumen ran a gallery space in the Crypt at St John on Bethnal Green. In their gallery Lumen curated group shows, solo shows and artist in residence programmes.
From September 2015 to September 2018, Lumen took 20 artists on an annual residency to the town of Atina, Italy, where the artists had an opportunity to create work in spacious studios. This residency included a number of trips to local observatories, art galleries and churches. The results of the work were then exhibited in The Crypt Gallery in London.
Lumen have also led residencies to dark sky environments in Cornwall and the Lake District.
In 2017, Lumen curated a large scale three-story exhibition at Ugly Duck, Bermondsey, entitled "School of Light". In March 2018, Lumen curated another exhibition at Ugly Duck about the concept of the Overview Effect and how viewing the Earth from space affects our collective perception of ecology.
Exhibitions Curated/ Co-Curated by Lumen
2023
18 Sep - 9 Jan 24 - Glacial Movements and The Ghaib, Daphne Oram Gallery, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, England. (Curated by Lumen)
31 May - 07 June, Glacial Movements and The Ghaib, COMSATS Art Gallery, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
4th March - 24th March, Glacial Movements and The Ghaib, VM Art Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan. (Curated by Pak Khawateen Painting Club)
2021
29 - 31 October - [Hu]Manned Mission, Sarah Edmondson, Mary Martin, Niamh McGuinne, Lumen Gallery, London, England
6 - 11 September - Glass House, SRG Bennett, Lumen Gallery, London, England
27 - 29 August - MEMENTO, Carol Wilhide Justin, Lumen Gallery, London, England
19 - 22 August - Places to Intervene in a System, Lumen Gallery, London, England
22 - 25 July - Towards a New Spirituality Curated by Jamie Maule, Linnea Kristensen and Jordan Edge, Lumen Gallery, London, England
06 - 27 March - Lumen at An Lanntair, Hebridean Dark Skies Festival, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
2020
28 February - 01 March - Solargraphy Exhibition curated by Olga Suchanova, Lumen Gallery, London, England
20 February - 25 July - Lumen: Phases, Museum of Freemasonry, London, England
2019
15 – 17 November - The Bravest Little Street in England, Lumen Gallery, London, England
8 - 28 November - Natural Light, AIR Gallery, Manchester
8 - 10 November - Lumen x Mayes Creative Lizard Point Residency, Lumen Gallery, London, England
17 - 27 October - Lisa Pettibone: Emerging Cosmic Landscape, Lumen Gallery, London, England
15 - 20 October - Through the Looking Glass: Humanity’s Changing View of the Universe, Ugly Duck, London, England
12 October - Bloomsbury Festival: Astronomical Light, St Pancras Crypt Gallery, London, England
10 - 13 October - Last Bus Home: Lil Cahill, Jojó, Inge Van Genuchten, Lumen Gallery, London, England
03 - 26 October - Lumen x Mayes Creative Lizard Point Residency, Helston Museum, England
27 - 29 September - Scarlet Isherwood: Alien Entomology, Lumen Gallery, London, England
6 July - 7 September - Lumen Presents: Cosmos, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre Gallery, Oxford, England
30th August to 01 September - MXXXIV: Melissa Fry, Martha Gray + Ludovica Colacino, Lumen Gallery, London, England
15 - 18 August - Luna: A Celebration of Our Moon, Lumen Gallery, London, England
4 - 14 July - Out of Darkness: Emma Louise Hollaway, Sepideh Khalili, Jo Lane, Ellis Scheer, Charmaine Watkiss, Lumen Gallery, London, England
20 - 23 June - Phases: An Exploration of Moon and Weather: Morfydd Ransom-Hall, Lumen Gallery, London, England
13 - 16 June - All at Sea: Maria Macc and Hannah Scott, Lumen Gallery, London, England
30 May - 9 June - New Doggerland: Frances Burden, Deborah Gardner, Jane Millar, Sarah Sparkes, Lumen Gallery, London, England
23 - 26 May - The Weight of Light: Grace Pappas and Marika Grasso, Lumen Gallery, London, England
2 - 5 May - Precession (Interim): Jennifer Crouch and Nicholas Strappini, Lumen Gallery, London, England
25 - 28 April - The Cosmic Sublime, Pie Factory, Margate, England
4 - 7 April - Perfume as Practice: Michael Borkowsky, Lumen Gallery, London, England
28 March - 1 April - Moonscapes, RCA Information Experience Design, Lumen Gallery, London, England
8 - 10 March - Out of Sight: Armelle Tulunda, Solo Show Award Recipient, Lumen Gallery, London, England
1 - 3 March - The Scent of Other Worlds: Bompas and Parr, Lumen Gallery, London, England
16 - 24 February - Lumen Presents: The Scent of Other Worlds, Bow Arts, London, England
31 January - 3 February - Artcan: New Horizons - Lumen Gallery, London, England
25 - 17 January - Falling Stars / Stelle Cadenti - Lumen Residency 2018 Exhibition, The Crypt Gallery London (St Pancras), London, England
2018
6 - 9 December - Moon Paintings: Pierre Papet, Lumen Gallery, London, England
13 - 17 December - Life is Too Short to be Serious All the Time: Georgia Stephenson, Lumen Gallery, London England
22 - 25 November - The Idea of Absence: Nick Scammell and Simon Head - Lumen Gallery, London, England
2 November - Lumen: Light and Sound with Young and Serious, Stratford Circus, London, England
15 - 18 November - Reimagining Life on Earth: Aleksandra Borys and Marcio Kerber Canabarro - Lumen Gallery, London, England
1 November - The Shape of Light: Zanny Mellor and Jessica Raynor - Lumen Crypt Gallery, London, England
27 - 30 September- White Out: Martha Orbach - Lumen Crypt Gallery, London, England
14 September - 04 October - Lumen: In Search of Darkness, Grizedale Gallery, Grizedale, England
15 August - Lumen Atina Residency 2018, Atina, Italy
7 - 10 June - The Wildgoose Memorial Library Presents: Lost But Not Forgotten, Lumen Gallery, London, England
25 - 27 May - Cosmic Perspectives, Ugly Duck, London England
16 May - Day of Light Exhibition, Morgue Gallery, Chelsea College of Art, London, England
27 April - 4 May - Black Hole Club - Vivid Projects, Birmingham, England
19 - 21 January - Lumen: Atina Residency 2017, Euston Crypt Gallery, London, England
2017
01 - 07 December - Lumen, Bankley Gallery, Manchester, England
02 - 05 November - Julie Hill: Mirroring Darkness, Lumen Gallery, London, England
28 September - Constellations: Orion, Lumen Gallery, London, England
13 August - Lumen Residency 2017, Atina, Italy
6 July - Ivana Kupala, Phytology, London, England
1 July - Constellations: Cassiopeia, Lumen Gallery, London, England
22 March - Kosmica, Paris, France
14 - 19 March, Diego Valente: Resonance Room, St John on Bethnal Green, London, England
24 February - RCA Exhibition, Kurt Schwitters Merz Barn Residency Exhibition, Lumen Gallery, London, England
3 - 5 February - Lumen: School of Light - Ugly Duck, London, England
2016
19 - 21 December - Making in Transit, The Arctic Treasure Hunt, Lumen Gallery, London, England
10 December - Look Mum No Computer: Kind of an Exhibition, Lumen Gallery, London, England
03 December - Lumen Christmas Fair, Lumen Gallery and St John on Bethnal Green, London, England
25 - 26 November - La Fine dell’Universo - Crypt Gallery, London, England
13 November - Dronica, The Old Church, London, England
04 August - D503 and Andrea Von Paduano, Lumen Gallery, London, England
13 September - Residency Exhibition, Atina, Italy
30 July - Lumen Science Fair, Lumen Gallery and St John on Bethnal Green, London, England
21 June - 7 July - VOID, Lumen Gallery, London, England
26 May - Astronomical Light, Stour Space, London, England
05 May - Minor Delay, Lumen Gallery, London, England
29 April - 02 May - David Marron: Encounters, Lumen Gallery, London, England
07 April - BYOB, Lumen Gallery, London, England
2015
05 November - Lumen: La Luce delle Stelle, The Crypt Gallery, London, England
23 September - Lumen Residency Exhibition, Atina, Italy
24 July - Tending to Infinity, Carousel, London, England
10 July - How to Become a Cult Leader 314, Apiary Studios, London, England 12 May - Lumen Open Studios, Lumen Gallery, London, England
13 - 28 March, Lumen II: Dark from Night, The Belfry, St Johns on Bethnal Green, London, England
2014
17 - 22 Dec - Lumen I, Euston Crypt Gallery, London, England
Online events
2020
04 August - Reading for Uncertain Times with Elastic Fiction / Gaia Hypothesis. Funded by Arts Council England.
Commissions
2022
British Council 'Glacial Movements & The Ghaib'
2020
Arts Council England 'Our Night Skies'
2020
Museum of Freemasonry
2019
British Science Association
2018
Young and Serious
2017
British Science Association
Bluedot Festival
Greenman Festival
2016
Creatures of the Night, Shrinking Spaces, Swansea, England
Electromagnetic Field Festival, Guildford, England
Residencies Curated by Lumen
2021
Return of the Light with Gem Toes-Critchton, online.
Supported by Arts Council England.
2019
March - Lizard Point Residency - Lumen x Mayes Creative, Cornwall, England
2018
August - Lumen: Atina Residency, Atina, Italy. With Natasha Sabatini
In Search of Darkness Residency, Grizedale Project Space, England
2017
August - Lumen: Atina Residency, Atina, Italy. With Natasha Sabatini
July - Lumen: Castel Gandolfo Vatican and Observatory Trip, Italy. With Natasha Sabatini
2016
September - Lumen: Atina Residency, Atina, Italy. With Natasha Sabatini
2015
September - Lumen: Atina Residency, Atina, Italy. With Natasha Sabatini
Workshops
2019
9 November, Anthotype Workshop, AIR Gallery, Manchester, England
9 November, Cyanotype Workshop, AIR Gallery, Manchester, England
8 November - Print the Moon, AIR Gallery, Manchester, England
2017
3 November - Print the Moon, Phytology, London, England
11 April - Print the Moon, Netil 360, London, England
2016
14 December - Print the Moon, Netil 360, London, England
Artists in Residence in Crypt Gallery
2019
January - Karel Doing
January - Boram Moon
2018
March - Zanny Mellor and Jessie Raynor
2017
August - Julie Hill
Symposiums
2019
7 - 8 September - Distant Light Symposium, Royal Photographic Society, Bristol, England
Talks
2019
Chelsea College of Art, London, England
2018
Royal College of Art, London, England
Central Saint Martins, London, England
2017
MA Art and Science, Central Saint Martins, London, England
Kosmica, La Colonie, Paris, France
Space Studios, London, England
2016
London LASER, Central Saint Martins, London, England
2015
London College of Communication, London, England
Tending to Infinity, Carousel, London, England
