Opening: Ida Badal, Khaled Chamma, Lowe Fehn: Aether

Ida Badal, Khaled Chamma, Lowe Fehn: Aether
On view: November 22, 2025–January 3, 2026
Opening reception: Saturday, November 22, 5:00-8:00 pm

The Valley is pleased to present Aether, a group exhibition including works from Ida Badal (Los Angeles, CA), Khaled Chamma (Melbourne, Australia), and Lowe Fehn (Richmond, VA) whose practices approach transmissions of the immaterial, utilizing the language of abstraction to induce a sense of suspended materiality.

In classical Greek thought, aether (αἰθήρ) referred to the pure upper air that the gods breathed. It was considered the fifth element, a divine substance distinct from the heavier air of the mortal world. In alchemy and later metaphysical philosophy, aether was imagined as the unseen medium that permeates all space, connecting the celestial and terrestrial realms. It represented the essence of spirit or the soul of the cosmos. In early studies of physics that followed, “luminiferous ether” was a proposed invisible substance thought to carry light waves through space. While this theory was later disproven, it remains poetic in its implications of invisible connection and transmission.

Badal, Chamma, and Fehn offer three distinct approaches for attending to the liminal layer that surrounds us. They chart a spectrum of how artists give form to what resists form. In gathering these practices, Aether invites viewers to enter a space where the intangible finds a material expression.

Aether is on view at The Valley’s Taos location from November 22, 2025 through January 3, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, November 22, from 5:00-8:00 pm, at 203 Ledoux Street in Taos.