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20 february 2024, Flor Linckens

Last chance: light, language and code in the work of Brigitte Kowanz

Another Time Another Place Another Place Another Time, Galerie Ron Mandos. Foto: Michèle Margot

Until 25 February, you can view a solo exhibition by Brigitte Kowanz in Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam. The leading Austrian artist is renowned for her innovative use of light as a medium, challenging us to experience this phenomenon in new ways. However, Kowanz viewed light not merely as a physical phenomenon but also as a language or code, capable of carrying and generating information. Her works illustrate how light can serve as both a poetic and critical tool to question the ever-changing relationship between human beings, technology and our environment. Furthermore, Kowanz has distinguished herself as a woman artist in an artistic medium that was traditionally dominated by men.

Brigitte Kowanz, Another Place Another Time, 2000, Galerie Ron Mandos. Foto: Michèle Margot

Brigitte Kowanz's body of work encompasses a wide spectrum of luminous objects, installations and spatial interventions. She has utilised a diverse range of materials, including neon, LED, fluorescent cables, mirrors and handwritten texts. The resulting works and hybrid spaces continuously blur the lines between the physical and the virtual, the visible and the invisible, inviting deep reflection on space and time. Kowanz is particularly fascinated by the metaphysical dimension of light: that aspect of reality which transcends the material and cannot be perceived with our senses. She views light as a medium for communication and knowledge transfer, frequently employing Morse code as a binary system for conveying information through light. For example, in the exhibition 'Another Time Another Place Another Time' at Galerie Ron Mandos, you can see the piece "Another Place Another Time" (2000), which partially gave the exhibition its name. For this square piece, the artist used fluorescent tubes to illuminate an acrylic glass panel, in which the title of the work is cut out in Morse code using a laser.

Another Time Another Place Another Place Another Time, Galerie Ron Mandos. Foto: Michèle Margot

In 2017, Kowanz represented her home country at the 57th Venice Biennale, in a duo presentation with Erwin Wurm, whose work was displayed outside the pavilion. Inside the Austrian pavilion, Kowanz unveiled 'Infinity and Beyond', a series of wall sculptures that, through the use of neon lights and occasionally double-sided mirrors, created an endless loop of light, resulting in an infinite virtual dimension. This installation played with the tangible space of the pavilion and the intangible world of conceptual reflections. Visitors were invited to contemplate both the physical presence of the pieces and the endless virtual spaces they implied. The presentation referenced significant moments in the history of the internet, including the introduction of the World Wide Web at CERN in Geneva and the launches of the first website, Google, Wikipedia and the iPhone, each translated into Morse code. In doing so, Kowanz underscored the impact of technological developments on our lives and showed how art can help us understand the complex relationships between visibility, technology and communication on a deeper level.

Brigitte Kowanz, Dimension, 2000, Galerie Ron Mandos. Foto: Michèle Margot

Kowanz was born in Vienna in 1957. She obtained her degree at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where she would end up teaching as a professor of Transmedia Art from 1997. The artist showed her work at the São Paulo Biennale, Fondation Beyeler in Basel, the Hayward Gallery in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Secession Vienna, Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich, MACRO Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma and the Shanghai Art Museum. In addition, she created more than fifty works for the public space. Since her passing in 2022, her legacy has been managed by her son, art historian Adrian Kowanz, with whom she closely collaborated for many years.

The exhibition 'Another Time Another Place Another Time' by Brigitte Kowanz will be on display at Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam until 25 February 2024.

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Flor Linckens

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20 february 2024, Flor Linckens

Last chance: light, language and code in the work of Brigitte Kowanz

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