1. Otto Piene, Untitled (Bleed-through of the previous page, left page); Untitled (sketch of Lakefront Anemone, right page), 1978, Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Goldring Piene, © 2024 ProLitteris, Zurich: Otto Piene Estate. Photo: President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2019.14.23
Otto Piene (1928−2014) stands as an important figure of the ZERO art movement, founded in the early 1950s. Beforehand, he studied at the Academy of Art in Munich and during the late 1950s at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf where he met Heinz Mack.
Thus the monographic exhibition “Otto Piene: Paths to Paradise” trace his vision as expressed in works from his most significant series and projects in conversation with his lifelong practice of sketching.
Curated by Dr. Sandra Beate Reimann and Dr. Lauren Elizabeth Hanson, the exhibition invites the audience to rediscover Otto Piene's vision’s and works until the end of May 2024 at the Museum Tinguely in Basel.
2. Otto Piene with Red Sundew 2, Installation view, Light Air Pax, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, 1970, © 2024 ProLitteris, Zurich: Otto Piene Estate. Photo: Otto Piene Archive
Otto Ludwig Piene was born on April 18, 1928, in Laasphe (Westphalia). In 1944, at the age of fifteen, he was conscripted into an antiaircraft unit during his high school years. After the war, he became interested in art and started his studied at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf in 1950. Additionally, he delved into philosophy and aesthetics at the University of Cologne starting in 1953.
Piene's founded in 1958 alongside Heinz Mack the art movement ZERO. ZERO, in contrast to the war's darkness and gestural painting was inspired by the use of light, vibration, purity, energy, and the cosmos. This movement gained influence across Europe, with artists like Jean Tinguely sharing a common interest in visual perception. During this period, Piene introduced pioneering works such as the Raster Paintings, Smoke Drawings, and his innovative Light Ballets.
In the late 1960s, Piene became the inaugural international fellow at MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) and later assuming its directorship in 1974, succeeding Gyrgy Kepes. Among his creations was Sky Art, exemplified by the Olympic Rainbow soaring above the Munich Olympics' lake during the closing ceremony in 1972.
Renowned for merging art and technology, Piene ventured into media art, collaborating in 1968 with Aldo Tambellini to produce Black Gate Cologne, the premier art production for television.
Tragically, Otto Piene passed away on June 17, 2014, while preparing for a Sky Event atop the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
The particularity of the exhibition in Basel
3. Installation view "Otto Piene: Paths to Paradise" at the Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2024. Otto Piene, Fleur du mal, 1968-1970 (right), Red spinnaker cloth, Polyethylene, blower, timer, 213 x 127 x 120 cm. Otto Piene Estate, courtesy of Sprüth Magers, © 2024 ProLitteris, Zurich: Otto Piene Estate. Otto Piene, Anémones: An Air Aquarium, 1976/2023 (in the background), Plastic (TPU film), blower, switch box, Otto Piene Estate, courtesy Sprüth Magers. Installation view "Otto Piene: Paths to Paradise" at Museum Tinguely, Basel, 2024, © 2024 Prolitteris Zurich: Otto Piene Estate. Photo: 2024 Museum Tinguely, Basel: Daniel Spehr
The exhibition in Basel sheds light on Piene's artistic trajectory.
Among them is the role of painting in Piene's artistic evolution. In 1958, Piene co-founded the ZERO group alongside Heinz Mack, a collective committed to envisioning light and space through groundbreaking painting methodologies.
Echoing the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, the movement strive to redefine artistic expression. Among Yves Klein, Piero Manzoni and Lucio Fontana, Piene found inspiration, particularly in Klein's monochromatic explorations and Fontana's canvases punctuated and slashed with incisions.
Piene embraced a newfound spatiality, light, and movement as sculptural elements. Departing from traditional artistic conventions, he devised an innovative approach: employing a perforated screen to materialize his dots.
On the other hand, Piene's utilization of sketchbooks emerges as a pivotal facet in the exploration of his artistic process.
Spanning from 1935 to 2014, these largely unpublished sketchbooks serve as a testament to Piene's interdisciplinary experiments throughout his extensive career.
Documenting realized and unrealized projects, Piene's sketchbooks offer a window into his creative evolution.
As a pioneer in multimedia and technology-based art, Piene delved into optical perception and kinetic forces, fostering a body of work that thrived on collaboration and the convergence of art, science, and nature.
From observational studies to meticulous explorations of motifs and even mundane notes and illustrations, Piene's sketchbooks serve as dynamic repositories of artistic ideation and material experimentation.
In the lineage of artistic sketchbooks that date back centuries, Piene's collection stands as a testament to the enduring significance of this intimate medium, offering insights not only into his individual practice but also into the diverse dimensions of the sketchbook as a conduit for artistic expression, innovation, and introspection.
Informations about the exhibition
Place: Museum Tinguely
Date: 7.2.2024 – 12.5.2024
Curators: Sandra Beate Reimann and Lauren Elizabeth Hanson
Ticket: Available on the website of the Museum Tinguely OR at the front desk of the museum
Informations about the Museum Tinguely
Museum Tinguely
Paul Sacher-Anlage 2 - P.O Box 3255
CH-4002 Basel
Phone: +41 61 681 93 20
Mail: tinguelybasel.infos@roche.com