Editions Fawbush is pleased to announce the publication of Flag, an LED light sculpture by Leo Villareal. The work is related to Villareal’s large scale Flag, originally created for the exhibition That Was Then … This is Now at MoMA/PS1, NY in 2008. Plexiglas diffuses the intensity of the LEDs, but the piece is still radiant and sparkling. Villareal programs custom software that controls the lighting and color patterns, originating with the familiar American flag icon.  Flag transitions through several sequences, some which do in fact represent the flag in shape and color, but many others are completely abstract forms of pure monochrome color and light. The red and blue spectrum infuses the piece with an unavoidable range of emotionality evoking excitement, like the bright lights of Broadway, Times Square, and billboards across America, as well as the calming effects of blue and white reminiscent of a twinkling twilight sky or a glistening body of water. Political undertones are unmistakable and poignant, as Flag bursts into fireworks that dissipate into embers. While not specifically political, Flag nonetheless embraces the shifting ambiguities and liminal areas of patriotism. Leo Villareal, the artist’s first comprehensive survey exhibition, opened at the San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA in August 2010, and is traveling to several museum venues in the US. Multiverse, an enormous, site specific white LED work, was recently acquired as a permanent installation by The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Flag was also included in Love in Vein: Editions Fawbush projects & artists 2005-2010, at Gering & Lopez Gallery, NY in December 2010. Leo Villareal: Volume will open at Gering & Lopez Gallery on May 4, 2011.