Jim Campbell (artist)


Jim Campbell is a contemporary San Francisco based artist who is known for his LED light works. Campbell began his artistic career in film making but switched to electronic sculpture in 1990 and started making his iconic LED matrix works in 2000. His current work combines film, sound, and LED light installations.

Education

Campbell received a B.S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in electrical engineering and mathematics in 1978.

Public collections

Campbell's work is part of numerous public collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In the fall of 2010, Campbell's work, "Scattered Light" was installed in the Madison Square Park Conservancy in Manhattan making it the largest and most extensive public art piece of his to date. Hundreds of hovering tiny lights made up a large-scale, three-dimensional public installation.
His installation, "Day for Night", at the top of Salesforce Tower debuted 21 May 2018, making it the tallest artwork on earth.

Awards and commissions

  1. Baker, Kenneth. "Electronics Artist Campbell Turns His Eye Toward Mass Protests, Echoing Futurists." San Francisco Chronicle. February 26, 2005, pp. E1, 10.
  2. Baker, Kenneth. "‘Home Movies’ Not Like the Ones Your Dad Made." San Francisco Chronicle. April 14, 2007, sec. E, p. 1.
  3. Vogel, Carol. "Inside Art: Madison Park, All Aglow", The New York Times. July 29, 2010.
  4. Zuckerman-Jacobsen, Heidi. "Jim Campbell / MATRIX 208 Memory Array." Berkeley Art Museum, 2003.