Tacita Dean and the eclipse drawings in Los Angeles
Published on 08/29/2026 at 18:02 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Tacita Dean continues to build a distinctive body of work around time, light and the fragile medium of film. Her recent series Eclipse Drawings, presented from May 9 to August 25, 2026 at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles, extends her interest in celestial phenomena and analog image-making.
The eclipse drawings series
The project Eclipse Drawings consists of twelve screenprints developed with Gemini G.E.L., the long-standing print workshop that has collaborated with major figures from Ellsworth Kelly to Vija Celmins. Each print translates the fleeting visibility of a solar eclipse into layered, hand-drawn imagery, then into the technical discipline of screenprinting.
According to Gemini G.E.L., the series was on view in Los Angeles from May 9 to August 25, 2026, situating Dean’s works within their program of contemporary editions and giving collectors access to a focused body of new work. The prints are offered in a limited edition, positioning them in the mid-market range compared with Dean’s large-scale film installations.
Work series and retrospective arcs
Dean’s engagement with celestial and atmospheric events forms a continuing thread across works such as Event for a Stage, Analogue and earlier chalkboard drawings that mark time and movement. Her eclipse works extend this line by fixing a specific astronomical occurrence as a sequence of images that can be revisited and collected.
At the Columbus Museum of Art, the survey Tacita Dean: Blind Folly ran from October 8, 2025 to March 8, 2026, presenting decades of work in film, drawing and sound, and underscoring how these new editions grow out of a long-term practice of observing and recording time-bound situations. The show framed Dean’s position as a British European visual artist whose work has become central to museum conversations around analog film.
Further news and background on Tacita Dean
Readers can find more coverage of Tacita Dean’s exhibitions, editions and film installations in the AD HOC NEWS archive, including past reports on her Los Angeles shows and institutional surveys.
The film installations and drawing practice
Dean is widely known for film works such as FILM, originally commissioned for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, where a towering projection explored the material qualities of 35mm film and the architecture around it. Her installations often combine projected moving image with sound and sculptural elements, demanding attentive viewing rather than quick consumption.
Alongside film, Dean has maintained a rigorous drawing practice, using chalk on blackboard, graphite on paper and more recently layered screenprint and lithograph processes. This dual focus on moving and static images gives collectors different entry points into her work, from editioned prints to unique drawings and complex installations.
Presence in collections and institutions
Institutional interest in Dean’s work has grown steadily, with major holdings at museums such as Tate, MoMA and the Columbus Museum of Art, which framed Blind Folly as the first major museum survey of her work in the United States. These collections anchor her position beyond the market and give her films recurrent visibility.
Her participation in group exhibitions, including thematic shows around narrative and classification at Frith Street Gallery in London, further situates her work within a network of artists exploring time, memory and the archive. This makes the eclipse series part of a broader constellation of projects that rework how history is pictured.
How the artist works
Tacita Dean works primarily with analog film, sound and drawing, frequently using 16mm and 35mm formats that demand careful technical handling and deliberate projection conditions. Her drawings and prints often translate time-based observations into fixed images, as in the eclipse series at Gemini G.E.L.
Where the artist stands now
Tacita Dean’s current position is shaped by recent institutional surveys such as Blind Folly in Columbus and new edition projects like Eclipse Drawings in Los Angeles, underscoring a practice that continues to evolve around analog film, drawing and carefully staged exhibitions.
Key facts on Tacita Dean
- Artist: Tacita Dean
- Medium / Genre: Film, drawing and installation (conceptual)
- Born: 1965, Canterbury, United Kingdom
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between Berlin and Los Angeles, with regular institutional projects in Europe and the United States
- Active since: Early 1990s, with growing international visibility from the late 1990s onward
- Key work groups: FILM, Blind Folly, Eclipse Drawings, Geography Biography
- Current/last exhibition: Tacita Dean: Blind Folly, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, October 8, 2025 – March 8, 2026
- Major collections: Tate (London), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Columbus Museum of Art (Columbus), Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart (Berlin)
- Awards: Multiple international recognitions, including nominations and prizes within European and UK contexts, reflecting institutional esteem
- Next date: No announced exhibition or auction date within the immediate 30-day window as of August 29, 2026
Frequently asked questions about Tacita Dean
Where were Tacita Dean’s Eclipse Drawings on view in 2026?
The series Eclipse Drawings was presented at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles from May 9 to August 25, 2026, as part of the workshop’s program of contemporary editions.
What did the exhibition Blind Folly at the Columbus Museum of Art cover?
Tacita Dean: Blind Folly ran from October 8, 2025 to March 8, 2026 and was described by the museum as the first major museum survey of her work in the United States, spanning film, drawing and sound.
How does Tacita Dean’s work connect film and drawing?
Dean often uses 16mm and 35mm film to record time-bound events and environments, then develops related drawings and prints that translate temporal observations into fixed images, as seen in projects like FILM, Blind Folly and Eclipse Drawings.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
