b. 1946
Photo: Darren O’Brien/Guzelia
Anthony McCall is widely recognized for his ‘solid-light’ installations, hybrid works between sculpture, drawing, and cinema in which beams of light that inscribe three-dimensional forms into haze-filled interiors are projected into space.
Active in the avant-garde cinema communities of London and New York in the 1960s and 1970s, McCall began working in film and performance before developing his ‘solid-light’ installations, beginning with Line Describing A Cone, 1973. In this iconic work, audiences moved freely within the space as a three-dimensional cone of light slowly emerged from a projector. P. Adams Sitney, in his landmark history of avant-garde cinema, Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, described McCall’s installations of the 1970s as, “the most brilliant case of an observation on the essentially sculptural quality of every cinematic situation.” Since the 1990s, technological advancements have allowed McCall to continue to develop these installations, to involve multiple projectors inscribing increasingly complex and interwoven forms. Recent solid-light works such as Split Second consist of multiple, interpenetrating solid-light forms creating a dynamic, activated space. McCall’s work makes visible the immaterial qualities of cinema, including light, space, and duration. His installations liberate the viewer to engage with their materials through both the body and the eye.
The historical importance of Anthony McCall’s work has been internationally recognized through numerous solo exhibitions, most recently at the Futura Museum, Korea, 2025; Tate Modern, UK, 2024; Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, 2024; the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, US, 2019; Pioneer Works, US, 2018; and the Hepworth Wakefield, UK, 2018.
McCall has also been featured in a wide range of solo and group exhibitions at major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; SFMOMA, San Francisco; the Serpentine Gallery, London; and Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, among others.
Anthony McCall currently lives and works in New York.
Split-Second Mirror III, 2022
horizontal, single projection,
media player, digital file, digital projector, haze machine, mirror
duration: 16 minutes (looped)
(AMc-260.1)
Skylight, 2020
vertical, single projection, soundtrack by David Grubbs,
media player, digital file, digital projector, audio speakers, haze machine
duration: 16 minutes (looped)
(AMc-259.1)
Split Second (Mirror), 2018
graphite and photocopy on paper
paper: 17 1/2 x 24 3/4 inches (44.5 x 62.9 cm)
framed: 20 3/8 x 27 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches (51.8 x 69.9 x 3.8 cm)
unique
(AMc-252)
Spinning Column 3, 2018
gelatin silver print mounted on museum board and aluminum
image: 33 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches (85.1 x 60 cm)
framed: 40 3/8 x 30 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches (102.6 x 77.5 x 4.4 cm)
(AMC-235.1)
Long Film for Four Projectors, 1974
Installation study
photocopy and pencil on paper
paper: 8 x 10 1/2 inches (20.32 x 26.67 cm)
framed: 12 3/4 x 15 1/4 inches (32.4 x 38.7 cm)
(AMC-WP.181)
Smoke Screen I, 2017
gelatin silver print mounted on museum board and aluminum
paper: 61 3/8 x 45 1/16 inches (155.9 x 114.5 cm)
framed: 62 1/8 x 45 3/4 x 1 7/8 inches (157.8 x 116.2 x 4.8 cm)
(AMC-224.L.3)
Crossing, 2016
computer, QuickTime movie file, four video projectors, two haze machines
one cycle: 20 minutes
(AMC-249.TBD)
Face to Face, 2013
computer, two video projectors, two haze machines, two double-sided
projection screens, Matrox splitter, QuickTime movie file one cycle: 30 minutes in two parts
edition of 3 with 1 AP
Programming: Eric Mika
(AMc-183)
"Coupling": Study for Projected, Solid-Light Installation, Guggenheim Museum, Rotunda to Floor, 2009
paper: 37 7/8 x 27 inches (96.2 x 68.6 cm)
(AMc-186)
Line Describing a Cone 2.0, 2010
video projector, computer, digital file, haze machine
one cycle: 30 minutes
dimensions variable
(AMC-153.TBD)
Column (Bending to the Wind), 2009
graphite on paper
paper: 55 3/4 x 38 inches (141.6 x 96.5 cm)
framed: 58 1/2 x 41 inches (148.6 x 104.1 cm)
(AMc-130)
Coupling, 2009
video projector, computer, QuickTime Movie file, haze machine
one cycle: 16 minutes in four parts
variable dimensions
edition of 5 with 1 AP
work includes a signed and numbered certificate
(AMc-119)
Crossing the Hudson (April 12, the 295th night), 2009
pencil on paper in 3 parts
paper: 43 1/2 x 36 3/8 inches (110.5 x 92.5 cm) each
overall paper dimensions: 43 1/2 x 109 1/4 inches (110.5 x 277.5 cm)
framed: 47 1/2 x 113 1/4 inches (120.6 x 287.7 cm)
(AMc-136)
You and I, Horizontal (III), 2007
Computer, QuickTime movie file, two video projectors, two haze machines. One cycle 30 minutes, in two parts (horizontal).
dimensions variable
edition of 3 with 1 AP
(AMc-24)
Landscape for Fire, 1972/2006
16mm color optical film with sound transferred to DVD, 7:30 minutes
edition of 15 with 3 APs
(AMC-23)
Studies for "Breath", 2009
3 works: graphite on paper
1 work: pigment print
paper: 13 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches (34.9 x 27.3 cm) each
(AMc-126A-D)
Breath II, 2004
video projector, computer, digital file, haze machine
one cycle: 10 minutes
variable dimensions
edition of 5 with 1 AP
(AMc-12)
Partial Cone, 1974
schematic drawing; graphite on paper
paper: 39 3/4 x 28 1/4 inches (101 x 71.8 cm)
signed, titled and dated by artist, recto
(AMC-WP.176)
Doubling Back, 2003
Computer, computer script, video projector, haze machine. One cycle 30 minutes, in two parts (horizontal)
dimensions variable
edition of 5 with 1 AP
(AMC-35)
In Circuit, 1974
Animation camera schema
pencil, colored pencil, and red ink on paper
paper: 22 x 30 inches (56 x 76 cm)
framed: 28 x 36 inches (71.1 x 91.4 cm)
(AMC-WP.177)
Line Describing a Cone, 1973
16mm projected installation, 30 minutes
open edition
(AMC-45)
Fire Cycles II (Stockholm, September 3, 1973), 1973
vintage gelatin silver print
paper: 8 x 10 inches (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
(AAMC-WP.134)
White Noise Installation, Surge on the Diagonal I, 1973/2008
ink and wash on paper
paper: 14 1/8 x 23 inches (35.9 x 58.4 cm)
framed: 16 3/4 x 25 3/8 inches (42.5 x 64.5 cm)
(AMC-WP.12)
Circulation Figures, 1972/2011
Room Installation comprised of two mirrors, one double-sided projection screen, 16 mm film transferred to QuickTime movie file, one video projector, four audio speakers, newsprint. Total running time: 36 minutes
dimensions variable
edition of 3 with 1 AP
(AMc-158)
