Call for Entry
“Exploring Darkness and Shadows”
The words 'Darkness' and 'Shadow' often connote psychological fear, chaos, the unknown and death. However the night sky, the fertile soil and the maternal womb are all dark and healthy places necessary for life.
In Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's book, "In Praise of Shadows" he states that many Eastern cultures prefer jade to emeralds because those cultures prefer a "pensive luster to a shallow brilliance". He also goes on to say that in Japan the tarnished aging of silver is valued over the high gleam of polished silver, and that the aged grain of old wood is appreciated over the light tone of new wood.
Gas - Edward Hopper
Romeo, upon seeing Juliet, says “It seems she hangs upon the night like a jewel in an Ethiope's ear." Without that dark of night, who knows what might have happened?
For our next L7 Gallery online show we invite international artists who love to explore the various meanings of both darkness and shadow in their artwork.
Exhibition Juror
Jesse Firestone is a curator whose work centers on artist agency, institutional inquiry, and experimental approaches to exhibition-making. Working across museums, civic institutions, artist-run spaces, and unconventional sites, his exhibitions challenge established standards of display and interpretation while foregrounding conceptual, transgressive, and historically unsung perspectives.
Over the past decade, Firestone has organized more than 60 exhibitions, commissions, and interdisciplinary programs, frequently working directly with artists to develop new projects. His practice considers exhibitions as sites for both public encounter and institutional change, with particular attention to the conditions under which artworks are produced, circulated, and understood.
Firestone is currently Associate Curator of RAY Triennial of Photographic Arts in Frankfurt, Germany; Curator of Exhibitions at The Interchurch Center in New York, where he is leading the strategic redevelopment of its arts program; and is a consulting curator with For the Artist, a foundation supporting artists through unrestricted funding, professional services, and public programming. He is consistently engaged by organizations at moments of transition, growth, or reinvention to help clarify curatorial vision, build artist-centered programs, and develop new models for public engagement.
