“Rainbow” of Otto Piene appears in Tehran

TEHRAN – A collection from the “Rainbow” series by German artist Otto Piene (1928–2014), one of the leading figures in technology-based art, pours light into the capital Tehran, offering joy and a promise of peace.

 

His first ever exhibit in the Middle East opened at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday evening, revealing a variety of artworks ranging from paintings to light sculptures, smoke and fire paintings, and beautiful environmental “sky art”.

 

The connection between nature, technology and art is truly observed at the exhibit arranged by the director of the Breckner Gallery in Düsseldorf, Till Breckner, in collaboration with the director of the New National Gallery in Berlin, Joachim Jaeger, and a friend of Piene, Guenter Thorn.

 

Piene’s “Light Goes to Isfahan” is one of the highlights of the exhibition. The light sculpture was inspired by the colorful tile works of the Imam Mosque in Isfahan.

 

In an exclusive interview with the Tehran Times on Sunday, Jaeger called the work “a spirit”. 

 

“It is very spiritual, the light moving slowly up and slowly down. Thus for Piene, light was a symbol of peace… and he is now in Iran as an ambassador of peace with his works,” he said.

 

His ceramic works created during the very last years of his life are another example of his interest in connection, in moving beyond borders, and in dialogue, he added.

 

“We thought it would be good to show them in Iran because it is very important in your culture and because ceramic was invented in Iran,” Jaeger stated. 

 

The exhibit opens with a large biography of Piene at the entrance to the museum along with large photos of his different projects created over the years.

 

Silk screen prints, series of fireworks, light sculptures and paintings decorate the entire museum.

 

The shimmer and shine of “Light Room Prague” takes the visitor into a world beyond that which one can imagine.

 

“The idea of holding an exhibit in Tehran came to me in 2013. Piene was impressed and very thankful to have the chance to hold exhibit here because it was very important for him to build bridges between cultures and across borders as he did in the early 1950s,” Breckner said.

 

About the works and the theme of the exhibit, Breckner explained, “The topic is the rainbow. The rainbow is a physical phenomenon which takes place all over the world and looks the same all over the world. 

 

“It is concentric circles of light symbolizing that all people have a great deal in common. It is a philosophical idea very representative of Otto Piene’s works,” he said.

 

Giving more details about a rainbow, Guenter Thorn said, “The geometry is very uniform and it is also the purest light you can see on the earth. It is not reflected color, it is of pure light in colors and appears the same way everywhere, and it is very peaceful.”

 

He also said that Piene wanted to take a positive view and transmit a positive signal to people through his “Rainbow” series.

 

Jaeger continued, “It was a perfect title for Iran because [Iran] has such a colorful culture and colors play a much larger role in your country. It could be fantastic to have this variety of Piene’s works, and see the connection between Iran and other cultures.”

 

When questioned about the connection between art, nature and technology in Peine’s works, Jaeger said, “Otto did not just create individual works.  He also created projects. He was an inventor and when he had an idea, he worked out the details with groups. 

 

“He needed technology to realize that, so he worked with other technicians and artists and you feel that it is not just a mere work. The machines, and the winds, the fabrics all help in making a sculpture; his works are not static but moving,” he asserted. 

 

He continued that his works are like an ongoing process, that is past exhibits still exist. “It is not just that the exhibit starts the moment his artworks arrive and ends when they are back in the crates. It has different phases; that is why [the exhibit] is very interesting in this contemporary world.”

 

About the paintings that Piene created by smoke and fire, Jaeger said, “When you go to the smoke and fire paintings, you have a similar idea it is like a world made out of a process and he [Piene] had a concept, a size, a material, a paper and a canvas and later on brought fire again. This shows the relation to nature, and fire as a material for art.”

 

Thorn also added, “The fire paintings are the moments that he (Piene) tried to catch the instant of energy transformation.”

 

“The fire paintings are very colorful and capture this transformation of energy into images. That is another aspect of his work stimulating the whole space around the work with intense colors,” Jaeger stated.

 

Piene founded the influential European postwar movement Group Zero with Heinz Mack in 1957, as part of an effort to transform and redefine art in the aftermath of the Second World War.

 

Breckner talked about the formation of the Zero Group and said, “Before World War II, painting was on canvas and sculpture. And the Zero Group started with what we could do on canvas that was not painting.” 

 

They also gave some explanations about the materials Piene used in his works including the fabric used for sails used by sailboats.

 

“Peine first did the drawings and then had others knit the fabrics and make the desired designs. He never closed the doors and always discussed the whole idea with others,” Thorn said. 

 

On his “sky art” projects, Breckner explained that Peine’s “Rainbow” series actually led to “sky art”.

 

“How we use light in artworks, from light to colors, is first in projects on the wall, and then into the light room, and out of the room into nature,” he explained.

 

Jaeger later added, “Piene was working with his tubes for ‘sky art’. If you blow it up you get a bow. That was one element of the rainbow. It was a link for the invitation for the Olympic Games.”

 

For the closing ceremony of the 1972 Munich Olympics Piene produced the “Olympic Rainbow”, which was composed of five differently colored helium-filled polythene tubes, each one 600 meters long.

 

Jaeger said, “At that time the rainbow was a symbol for open society.  At a time when all artists were very much aware of changes in society, the rainbow was a motive for entering a peaceful society. It was a symbol of peace.”

 

Piene has a beautiful series of paintings with the symbol of peace called ‘pax’, the Latin word for peace, “For me a rainbow means be as colorful as possible and be as joyful as possible,” Jaeger added.

 

On the concept of the light sculpture inspired by tile works of Imam Mosque, Jaeger explained, “He was working on light objects and creating sculptures out of glass on colored glass when he had the idea to produce one of the light sculptures in the blue green colors of the mosque in Isfahan.”

 

Like the art of Zero, Piene’s works break down borders, ideologies and nationalities, Guenter Thorn noted.

 

The exhibit will be running until April 17 at the museum located on North Kargar St., next to Laleh Park.

 

RM/YAW

END