Sprite Forming #41

April 16 - May 14, 2016

Peter McLeish – Red Sprites

Red sprites are upper atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms that have recently been only documented using low level television. The first images of a sprite were taken in 1989 and from 1990 to 1994 the space shuttle obtained twenty more images. Despite nearly a century of anecdotal reports from airline pilots, most scientists didn't really believe in sprites until the first images were captured on high-speed video. The blink of an eye last 250 milliseconds: sprites often last only ten. Cameras and computer models freeze sprites in time. Red Sprites were considered UFOs by pilots before their discovery.

Since 2001, Peter McLeish has been involved in a collaboration based on Red Sprites with American scientist Walter A. Lyons. This collaboration resulted in a series of encaustic artworks, some of which are displayed at Visual Voice Gallery as part of the Red Sprites exhibition. The encaustic works were featured in the movie "The Hundred Year Hunt for Red Sprites" as well as its companion-six minute film titled "Lightning’s Angels," which will also be screened at the gallery. Since 2002, both films have been presented at many major International science symposiums, conferences, media festivals, science film festivals, science & art museums/centres and planetariums all over the world. Peter’s continued research subsequently led him to an additional collaboration with Dr. Colin Price from the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science, Tel Aviv University who was working on sprite research from a ground station with the ill-fated crew of the Columbia in 2003. Since 2007, Peter has been working on a new project titled Polaris Terrarum about the Polar Regions.

Peter McLeish is a Canadian born international multi-media artist, painter, filmmaker and lecturer with a Masters Fine Arts degree. His initial education was in the sciences (physics & advanced mathematics) prior to his training in the visual arts. He has given over 80 solo and group exhibitions and/or film presentations and lectures in over 60 cities in many countries including Australia, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales), the United States, Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Italy. Peter received over twenty various types of grants and/or awards from different branches of the Canadian and/or Quebec Governments.
He has the unique opportunity of giving science lectures and film presentations for major science institutions, museums/centers as well as giving art lectures, film presentations and exhibitions for art institutions, museums and centers such the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago-United States, the National Museum of Australia in Canberra-Australia, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne-Australia, the Spazio Oberdan in Milan- Italy, Sala Emilio Saraco / Neuquén Museum of Fine Arts in Neuquén–Argentina, the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull-United Kingdom, Queensland Museum South Bank in Brisbane-Australia, the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh-United States, the TELUS World of Science-Calgary in Calgary-Canada, Canada South Science City in Windsor-Canada, the Evansville Museum of Arts History and Science in Indiana-United States, the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle Upon Tyne-United Kingdom, Stardome in Auckland-New Zealand Carter Observatory in Wellington-New Zealand, the Royal Institution of Australia in Adelaide-Australia, the Geological Museum-Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen-Denmark, Planetarium Hamburg in Hamburg-Germany, Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center in Copenhagen-Denmark and the Art Centre Silkeborg Bad in Silkeborg-Denmark.