The Sun Placed in the Abyss brings together the work of over fifty artists who, since 1970, have used the sun as subject to explore the historical, social, and technological conditions of photography, both still and moving. This dynamic exhibition highlights the enduring interest in our closest star and the diverse approaches to photographic processes and histories today: from cyanotypes and physautotypes to gelatin silver prints and cameraless photography to film and video.

The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections. In the first section, artists recontextualize pictures of solar phenomena from the nineteenth century to today and reflect on the intertwined histories of photographic technologies and scientific inquiry. Section two showcases artists who have pointed their camera directly at the sun or used sunlight as a medium. In the final section, artists incorporate images of sunrises and sunsets to highlight issues of aesthetic taste and the material conditions of photographic technologies, from postcards and tourist snapshots to magazines and cell phones. The romantic trope of the rising or setting sun becomes a poetic mediation on the politics of photographic representation and meaning.

The exhibition includes works by Dove Allouche, Sarah and Joseph Belknap, Sarah Charlesworth, Anne Collier, Linda Connor, Tacita Dean, Jan Dibbets, John Divola, Shannon Ebner, Buck Ellison, Sam Falls, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Ryan Foerster, Dan Graham, Yuji Hamada, Rachel Harrison, CJ Heyliger, David Horvitz, Matthew Jensen, Craig Kalpakjian, Kikuji Kawada, Matt Keegan, Jochen Lempert, Zoe Leonard, Sol LeWitt, Mary Lucier, Aspen Mays, Chris McCaw, Lisa Oppenheim, Catherine Opie, Trevor Paglen, Anthony Pearson, Richard Prince, Walid Raad, Dario Robleto, Susan Schuppli, Simon Starling, A.L. Steiner, Yosuke Takeda, Diana Thater, Wolfgang Tillmans, Artie Vierkant, James Welling, T.J. Wilcox, Letha Wilson, and Hiroshi Yamazaki.