Elijah Gowin – Spirit and Shadow

“Spirit and Shadow” invites viewers into a meditative space where the most transient glimmers become eternal, and the natural world reveals its quiet, radiant soul. Fireflies flash along the bank of a river’s bend. They create new constellations of possibilities, encouraging us to wish upon stars. Snowflakes, too, drift like spirits from the sky, each unique and dissolving, their crystalline forms vanishing upon contact with the ground. Tiny orbs of light, whether firefly or snow, journey through the night. Their trails cross like strands of memory and breath.

In a summery and wintery mix, Robert Mann Gallery is pleased to present “Spirit and Shadow”, a solo exhibition featuring the work of Elijah Gowin. The artist’s images illuminate the ephemeral beauty of light emerging from darkness, capturing the quiet mysteries of transformation and transcendence of some of nature’s tiniest wonder’s.

Traveling to photograph fireflies in Virginia, Malaysia and Thailand, Gowin photographs the visual beauty of these majestic insects. Juxtaposing these twinkling creatures at nightfall are snow flakes flurrying after the sun has set on the rural land. Their white and bluish tones echo the glow of lightning bugs, creating a visual symphony of movement, rhythm, and reflection.

Unpredictable effects in Gowin’s camera techniques resound in surprising explosions of color and tone; at times, the distinctions between the foreground and background seem to dissolve. Streaks of yellow glide across the images as white orbs sparkle like crystals. The outline of a tree branch or the shadow of a river bank hazily glow in the background. Sometimes, the fireflies appear as stars fallen from the ether, floating down the river. Gowin shares about his process, “Both series are taken in complete darkness and require a process of faith — both in photographing, but also in living. The series play with scale where elements could be very small, or infinite in size and unceasing in space. Only in the dark do the sparks of light truly shine.”

Fireflies and snowflakes dissolve boundaries between seasons, between the living and the spectral. Each image invites viewers to linger in a moment of suspension where light hovers on the edge of vanishing — an emblem of both spirit and shadow. Synchronizing his practice with the lunar cycle, the changing seasons, and mother nature, the artist honors and preserves the mysteries of existence, especially with the effect of ecological disruption and the fragility of the systems existence.

Gowin’s photographs are in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Virginia Museum of Fine Art, among others. In 2008, he received the John S. Guggenheim Fellowship. His books include “The Last Firefly” (2024), “A Shared Elegy” (2017), “Of Falling and Floating” (2011), “Maggie” (2008) and “Hymnal of Dreams” (2001).

Gallery hours Tue-Fri 10 am – 6 pm, Sat 11 – 6 pm, and by appointment

Exhibition Duration 11 December 2025 – 31 January 2026

www.robertmann.com

Location:
Robert Mann Gallery
508 West 26th Street, Suite 9F
10001 New York, NY
United States