When the lights go out in Bushwick’s Aliume Art Gallery, the artwork is only just beginning.
Paintings glow beneath ultraviolet light, colors appear to shift and kinetic sculptures spin into hypnotic geometric patterns. Then, when the lights are shut off completely, the work changes again, revealing an otherworldly landscape created from phosphorescent materials.
A different way of seeing
For Alex Aliume, the Ukrainian-born artist behind the gallery, the transformation is the point. Located at 41 Porter Ave., near the Morgan Avenue L-train stop, the gallery is designed less as a traditional white-walled exhibition space and more like an experience. Aliume describes his practice as an investigation into how light, color and motion shape the way people perceive the world.
“Luminescent experiential art is one of the styles, and I am the pioneer in that specific non-conventional artistic practice,” Aliume said. “Luminescent means different spectrums of light. Every single artwork I make glows under ultraviolet light, and it also completely transforms and glows without light, which is true glow-in-the-dark.”
His work combines painting, sculpture and kinetic art with ultraviolet-responsive and glow-in-the-dark materials. The result is art that looks dramatically different depending on whether it is viewed in ordinary light, under UV illumination, through 3D glasses or in complete darkness.
“Every single artwork I make glows under ultraviolet light, and also completely transforms and glows without light, which is true glow-in-the-dark,” Aliume said. “When people visit, they definitely do not expect what’s coming.”
Aliume said that one of his favorite parts of the gallery is the awe of the people who visit.Photo courtesy of Alex Aliume
That shift in perspective is something Aliume wants visitors to experience for themselves. When guests arrive, he guides them through the gallery and asks questions before eventually inviting them to signal when they’re ready for the lights to go out.
“I meet hundreds and thousands of people over the years. I meet students and kids to quite famous scientists,” Aliume said. “People come with different types of emotions and ideas. I guide them through the space and they explore the art, they ask questions, they engage with it, they connect with it, they reflect.”
The darkness can turn a familiar painting into something entirely new.
“People usually experience a sense of awe when the lights turn off,” Aliume said proudly. “It’s something they’ve never seen before.”
Visitors also receive Chromadepth 3D glasses, adding another layer to the experience. According to Aliume, the glasses alter how viewers perceive the colors and depth of his two-dimensional works, making the visual experience feel more dimensional.
The meditative power of motion
The gallery’s kinetic sculptures take that idea of perception even further. Created from wood, the motorized pieces rotate at different speeds, revealing geometric patterns and faces that can be difficult or impossible to see while the sculptures are moving quickly. The works are programmed to spin, slow down, stop and reverse direction, repeatedly changing the visual experience.
Aliume said that the process can feel almost meditative for viewers.
One of the gallery’s coolest pieces is four motorized kinetic sculptures. Photo by Olivia Seaman
“The point of kinetic art is standing in front of it and focusing — you choose the one that you feel most connected to,” he said. “You start noticing a pattern, which only appears when the object reaches a certain speed. That pattern is kind of invisible when the objects are in motion. That could be an extremely meditative process, and it can be very powerful as well.”
He added that the wall-mounted sculptures are particularly labor-intensive. Each design begins with Aliume before being laser-cut, handcrafted, motorized, painted and installed.
A chance encounter with light
Aliume’s fascination with light and perception began somewhat unexpectedly. He said his first encounter with fluorescent paint happened by chance, but quickly became a turning point.
“It was accidentally divine; spontaneous,” he said. “When I first laid my hands on a canvas, and dramatically enough, I accidentally picked up fluorescent paint, the one that glows under ultraviolet light.”
He added that “Accidents don’t exist, of course.”
Each visitor at Aliume Art Gallery receives a pair of 3D glasses to watch the art come alive.Photo courtesy of Alex Aliume
The discovery led to a larger realization about what he wanted to do with his art.
“I started playing with it and realized that I loved it so much,” Aliume said. “The more I was doing it, the more I realilzed I wanted to do it every single day.”
Art as magic
Aliume’s artistic philosophy draws from both science and mysticism, interests he said have followed him since childhood. Geometry, physics, natural patterns and questions all find their way into his work.
“I am the experimentalist,” he said. “I love to combine the uncombinable. I love revealing the invisible.”
That desire to reveal what normally goes unseen is also at the center of what Aliume believes art can accomplish.
“Art is magic and is supposed to real a sense of great mystery, or one of the faces of it,” he said.
For Aliume, art does not have to exist separately from science and mystery. Instead, he sees those ideas as parts of the same conversation.
Aliume said that he accidentally found his way to this style of art, and is ecstatic that this is his full-time job.Photo courtesy of Alex Aliume
“Since the beginning of my artistic journey, I felt like art is the place to discover the sacred magic. It’s an alchemy combining things that inspire awe.”
His ambitions extend beyond the walls of the Bushwick gallery. The Aliume Temple Project envisions a permanent light environment combining painting, sculpture, kinetic systems and architecture into a space designed for contemplation and public interaction.
For now, visitors can experience Aliume’s evolving world in the Bushwick gallery.
“Art is the portal into higher dimensions, mathematics, dream world subconsciousness and more,” he added. “Art can be a tool and the key for rediscovery of yourself, the world around us.”
Visitors can book an experience at Aliume Art Gallery through aliumeart.com.