Heads up about the ambient lighting in Gallery 3 at the Digital Art Expo

I went to the Digital Art Expo in Chicago last weekend and spent about 45 minutes in Gallery 3. The lighting there is really throwing off how the digital pieces look. Most of the screens had a warm yellow tint from overhead bulbs that made the colors look washed out. I noticed three artists had to adjust their brightness settings mid-show just to compensate. If you are submitting work or visiting a gallery, bring your own small color calibration card or check the room lights first. Has anyone else run into bad venue lighting ruining the display of digital art?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret2341mo ago

Is it really that big of a deal though? Most digital art shows I've been to just have whatever lights the venue already has.

zara4471mo ago

You said "whatever lights the venue already has" and that's exactly the problem. You can't just throw a projector on a white wall with overhead fluorescents on. The colors will look washed out and the blacks will look gray. At bare minimum you need to be able to control the ambient light, ideally with dimmable fixtures or blackout curtains. If you're showing on a monitor or screen, you also want to make sure there's no direct light hitting the display, it creates glare that kills the detail. A lot of venues think digital art is just plug and play, but it takes the same care as lighting a physical painting.