Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

It’s officially the winter solstice—the longest night of the year. Winter’s (way too) early evenings are here, and light is something we seek. Roofs are lined, candles are lit, lanterns are hung—all sparking light, both practically and symbolically, in an otherwise dark season.  

In this month’s Stories Behind the Art, explore how light transforms and uplifts at MCASD, brightening even the longest nights this winter.  

Stephen Antonakos’s Incomplete Neon Square for La Jolla (1984) 

By day, Stephen Antonakos’s Incomplete Neon Square for La Jolla reads as a crisp architectural line; by night, it floods Prospect Street with red and blue light.  

A pioneer in elevating neon from commercial signage to contemporary sculpture, Antonakos treated light as a material with weight, presence, and emotional charge. His geometric, often intentionally incomplete forms rely on the viewer to imagine the shapes while neon’s phosphorescent glow plays with perception.  

Over a five-decade career, Antonakos created over 55 public neon installations, including this one at MCASD, and positioned neon as a dynamic medium capable of activating environments, evoking emotion, and reshaping urban spaces. 

Venturi Scott Brown & Associates

When architects Venturi Scott Brown & Associates renovated the Museum in 1996, they embraced their postmodernists background, incorporating neon as a playful, unexpected design element woven directly into the architecture. 

Transforming what once was an entry atrium and now a public gathering space, VSB's starburst-shaped Axline Court houses neon bands that curve overhead, accentuating the hall’s dramatic geometry. When daylight fades, the neon bands glow, illuminating the interior and casting their presence outward, visible on Prospect through the upper windows.  

Doug Wheeler’s Untitled (1965) 

Artist Doug Wheeler uses light to alter perception and space. First realized in his Venice Beach studio in 1968, Wheeler’s early works incorporate subtle neon illumination and pristine white surfaces, inviting viewers to slow down and attune to shifts in light rather than object or image. Created in 1965, Untitled, on view now in Fox Family Gallery, reflects Wheeler’s foundational interest in dematerializing the art object and using light as an immersive, perceptual medium. The work envelops viewers in an atmospheric environment that blurs the boundaries between artwork, architecture, and experience.

As the longest night of the year unfolds, these works at MCASD continue to illuminate. From Antonakos’s neon forms to Venturi Scott Brown’s architectural accents and Wheeler’s immersive environment, light at MCASD is both a material and a presence—offering warmth, atmosphere, and connection this winter season. 

Wishing you a bright new year.