Light Fields
January 24 - March 7, 2026
540 Ramona Street
Palo Alto, CA
[Palo Alto, CA] — Pamela Walsh Gallery is pleased to present Light Fields, a solo exhibition of new paintings by acclaimed Bay Area artist Andrew Faulkner. The exhibition opens January 24, 2026, with an artist reception from 5-7 pm, including an artist talk at 6 pm. Light Fields will be on view through March 7, 2026.
Marking his fifth solo presentation at the gallery, the exhibition extends Faulkner’s long standing exploration of color and light into a more expansive and immersive territory. Moving beyond the recognizable landscapes of Northern California, these new paintings venture into something more elemental, an imagined geography where atmosphere, light, and memory converge.
Faulkner constructs his compositions through luminous strata of color that alternately reveal and obscure the underlying sense of place. Horizons soften, forms dissolve, and pigment becomes atmosphere. In this subtle interplay, the familiar landscape gives way to radiant fields of light, inviting viewers into a space where visual sensation takes precedence over description.
Drawing on the legacy of Color Field painting while remaining deeply rooted in his own experience of place, Faulkner’s work inhabits the threshold between abstraction and landscape. Light Fields offers a meditation on light’s capacity to transform perception, showing how color can evoke both an external environment and an internal, emotional state. The paintings invite sustained looking, encouraging viewers to dwell in a liminal space where the seen and the felt merge into a singular, luminous experience. “In Light Fields, I continue my ongoing journey to capture the essence of place through the refined language of color and light. Inspired by the subtle complexity of Rothko, Albers, and Wolf Kahn, this body of work leans further into abstraction. By saying more with less, while maintaining a rich sense of texture and mark-making, each canvas offers a distilled yet profound experience of place, revealing the expressive power of color and light in their purest and most nuanced forms.”
Andrew Faulkner is a contemporary American painter known for his vibrant investigations of color, light, and spatial perception. Inspired by the landscapes and architecture of Northern California, his work bridges representation and abstraction through an approach he describes as “invented color space.” Faulkner holds degrees from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. His work has been exhibited widely across the United States and is held in numerous private and corporate collections. In addition to his fine art practice, Faulkner has worked extensively as an illustrator for major national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. He lives and works in Sausalito, California.
Founded in 2019, Pamela Walsh Gallery is located in a historic 1929 Birge Clark-designed building in downtown Palo Alto. The gallery represents a diverse roster of contemporary artists, as well as the Nathan Oliveira Estate. A member of the San Francisco Art Dealers Association since 2021, the gallery is committed to fostering artistic development and long-term career growth. Pamela Walsh currently serves on the Association’s Board of Directors.
Light Fields will be on view at Pamela Walsh Gallery, 540 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am-6 pm. For more information, visit www.pamelawalshgallery.com or contact info@pamelawalshgallery.com.
