KAREL NEL - The Brilliance Of Darkness

About

Karel Nel is the appointed project artist for COSMOS (The Cosmic Evolution Survey), the most comprehensive astronomy project ever undertaken. Put simply, its goal is to measure 2 square degrees of the universe. With deep astronomy imaging, it studies the evolution of galaxies, galaxy clusters and dark matter structures, moving through greater and greater distances and hence further back in time. Effectively, they are turning back the clock to observe the universe as it was near the beginning and as it evolves, coming forward in time to the present epoch. Nel has worked with this growing team of astrophysicists over four years, attending their conferences in New York, Kyoto, Munich and Paris. He has travelled great distances with them to view the firmament from isolated points on the planet that are free from light pollution. From the Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea, a 13,000 ft high volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, to the plains of St Augustine in New Mexico, the site of The Very Large Array Telescope, they have viewed the stars as our ancestors once did. ART FIRST is privileged to present the first exhibition of work to emerge from the COSMOS Project.