Witnessing the Echoes of Our Past Living in Our Present With ‘Warren Neidich: The Palinopsic Field’

Rachael McDonald

Palinopsia occurs when an after-image remains to some degree after its original image has faded with the visual preservation often manifesting as a persistent reemerging image. LACE’s summer exhibition “Warren Neidich: The Palinopsic Field” broadens the perspective of palinopsia beyond simply the visual, presenting it in a cultural and historical context. Conceptual artist Warren Neidich’s neon sculptures, installations and paintings investigate themes from the past whose echoes are still felt in our lives today. 

Exploring the intersections and overlaps between art, culture and the brain, “The Palinopsic Field” revisits the post-World War II witch hunts that were McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare. Joseph McCarthy’s House of Un-American Activities Committee along with many politicians and members of the public went after authors, writers and other artists who were suspected of having communist affiliations alongside widespread paranoia and a mass purging of gays in the workplace. Through resurfacing and examining some of the fearful and intolerant layers of this tense chapter of our history, Neidich provides a window into a deeper understanding of this particular moment in time and confronts us with the question of how we might still be carrying around its weight today.

Red neon sculptures generate an intentional afterimage of the names of banned writers from the time alongside a space hauntingly mirroring an empty Walk of Fame star for the sculpture’s afterimage to fall in. Neon lavender lights frame absurd headlines from newspapers and magazine clippings declaring perverts in the government among other slanderous homophobic headlines. “The Afterimage Paintings” and “The Archive of False Accusations” work in tandem exposing the role of McCarthyism in erasing art and individuals from participating in and contributing to our society and cultural identity. Visitors cannot help but hear the echo of history’s thematic parallels playing out in our current fear-based political climate. Through his art, Neidich reveals the palinopsic field of our own history.

“Warren Neidich: The Palinopsic Field” will be on view from June 15 through Aug. 14 at LACE.