The MIT List Visual Arts Center is pleased to present an exhibition of the light-based sculptural work of Otto Piene (b. 1928, Bad Laasphe, Germany). Piene is a pioneering figure in multimedia and technology-based art. Known for his smoke and fire paintings and environmental “sky art,” Piene formed the influential Düsseldorf-based Group Zero with Heinz Mack in the late 1950s. Zero included artists such as Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein, Jean Tinguely, and Lucio Fontana. Piene was the first fellow of the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) in 1968, succeeding its founder György Kepes as director until retiring in 1994.
Otto Piene: Lichtballett highlights the artist’s exploration of light as an artistic and communicative medium. As the artist explained in a series of texts in the 1960s, “light is the primary condition for all visibility,” leading to investigations of light movement.
