San Francisco literally lit up earlier this month when The Bay of Lights– the eight million dollar light sculpture installation, designed by the renowned artist Leo Villareal– went live, illuminating almost two miles of the iconic Bay Bridge. These pulsating lights which consist of 25,000 LED bulbs, span the western suspension bridge between Treasure Island and San Francisco, and will be ablaze nightly for the next two years. Privately funded by a smattering of tech billionaires who have given generously to the project- in collaboration with government agencies and cultural alliances- this twinkling eye candy is projected to bring in almost 100 million dollars to the local economy.
The Yale educated Villareal- whose permanent collections are displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Kagawa, Japan, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC- was inspired to work with lights while attending Burning Man over a decade ago- which incidentally, is where he designed his very first light sculpture. The Bay of Lights owes its genesis to the bridge’s 75th birthday, back in 2011, when Villareal was tapped to create this gleaming light show based on his body of work, which represents the synergy of art, design, and architecture. During this process, he was influenced by the motion of traffic, weather, sky, and water, which is evident in the distinctive flowing algorithms which flash melodically.
Although Villareal lives in New York- where he’s usually on scene with his super chic wife, Yvonne Villareal – he may have left his heart in San Francisco, having worked for a prominent Silicon Valley company before settling back to New York- and his latest large-scale light experience appears to be a shining love letter to the city by the bay…which will always be my bay. www.thebaylights.org
