Tracing Light; Cameraless Photography by Anne Arden McDonald Exhibition
The UMass Dartmouth CVPA Campus Gallery is proud to present a solo exhibition, Tracing Light: Cameraless Photography by Anne Arden McDonald. A reception will be held on Tuesday, February 3, from 5–7 PM in the CVPA Campus Gallery, located on the first floor of the CVPA building at 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth, MA 02747. An artist talk is planned for 5:30 PM at the gallery during the reception. Light refreshments will be served. Visitor parking for this day only is in Lots 5, 6, 8, and 8A.
Additionally, there will be a closing reception on Tuesday, March 31, from 5–7 PM with the artist present. All events are free and open to the public.
Anne Arden McDonald is a New York City-based visual artist who creates images on photographic paper without the use of a camera or a negative. While still utilizing photo paper, light, and chemistry, she experiments with historic processes, like the photogram, to invent new ways of producing images. Her methods involve an unorthodox collection of materials and techniques drawn from both domestic and scientific realms.
The work in this exhibition explores circles and spheres as atoms or planets—representing the microcosm and macrocosm of the physical world—as well as symbols of growth and wholeness. Featured works include recent, previously unshown experiments with rust and bubbles from 2024 and 2025, alongside large-scale cameraless scrolls from 2005–2011, many of which exceed 100 inches in height.
Anne Arden McDonald is a Brooklyn, NYC-based visual artist who was born in London, England, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. From age 15 to 30, she created photographic self-portraits by building installations in the landscape or in abandoned interiors and performing privately for her camera in these spaces. She published a monograph of this work in 2004. More recently, she has been making process- and science-inspired images which involve both photography and sculpture. Her work has been exhibited in contexts that range from self-portrait, staged, ritual, plastic camera, antique process, and experimental photography to sculptural installations as large as a room and as small as a pocket watch.
CVPA Campus Gallery
Viera Levitt
vlevitt@umassd.edu