Zilvinas Kempinas
dal 29/10/2008 al 24/1/2009
Segnalato da
29/10/2008
Zilvinas Kempinas
Kunsthalle Wien, Wien
As a showcase of sensory abstractions, the exhibition presents the mystery of fleeting phenomena and invisible forces: the rotation of wind, shadow as an ornament, the play of reflected light. Minimal means are used to achieve maximum effects: lengths of unspooled videotape moving in currents of air serve as a sculptural material, transforming architecture into an optically buzzing environment or staging a hypnotic play of lines.
Curator: Gerald Matt
...suddenly a boring room became magical...
The work of Zilvinas Kempinas, who counts among the up-and-coming young artists on the international scene,
possesses a fascinating lightness and poetry. His approach is characterized by the use of minimal means to achieve
maximum effects. Lengths of unspooled videotape moving in currents of air serve as a sculptural material to
transform architecture into an optically buzzing environment: art as a flickering, a vibrating, and a floating that
enchants the eye and makes us dizzy.
For this particular exhibition, Kunsthalle Wien becomes a showcase of sensory abstraction that presents the mystery
of fleeting phenomena and invisible forces, locating the artwork on the verge of its own disappearance: the rotation of
wind, shadow as ornament, a play of reflected light. Spaces are transformed by lengths of shiny black magnetic tape
that move in currents of air. They become a hall of columns or an abstract cinema, a dance of ribbons or a sheet
across the ceiling that evokes sensations of being underwater.
Fluttering black-and-white sets the museum’s white
cube into motion; its architectural mass is optically dissolved, oscillating between visual ambivalences of
monumentality, stasis, rhythm, and levitation.
The use of material for something other than its intended purpose, a method with which Zilvinas Kempinas
experiments so masterfully, leads to these unique spatio-sensory experiences. The artist describes the versatility of
his material as follows: “Video tape has perfect sculptural qualities; it looks ephemeral but is actually a durable
material, at once super light, micro thin and highly flexible. It’s pure black, yet has a shiny surface that reflects light
and becomes even more animated when set in motion. Videotape is inexpensive, replaceable and easily recognizable
by everybody as a familiar commodity, yet at the same time it has the ability to be perceived as an abstract line. It has
connections with the idea of time and memory, and I like the fact that it’s a medium being pushed aside now by new
technologies.
Very soon, perhaps, there will be no such thing as magnetic tape. So there is a moment of nostalgia
imbedded in it already.”
Zilvinas Kempinas pursues a practice of contemporary art that combines aspects of abstract and kinetic art, Op Art,
Minimalism, and site-specificity into a sensory experience of aesthetic and energetic elements. With artists like Victor
Vasarely and Alexander Calder he shares an interest in physical and optical laws, translating the principles according
to which the human eye sees – via a form dictated by chance – into something that can be experienced physically.
Both fragile and dynamic, these near-immaterial installations unfold in a moment of contemplation. They captivate
with their ephemeral appearance that is in a state of constant change, throwing off the viewer’s sensory awareness.
As well as being the first presentation of his work in Austria, this exhibition at Kunsthalle Wien is the largest solo show
of his work to date. It will include three major installations – White Noise (2007), Parallels (2007) and Columns (2006)
– and three works based on the idea of levitation in which lengths of videotape are held in circulating suspension by
mechanically generated wind.
Zilvinas Kempinas, born 1969 in Plunge, Lithuania, lives and works in New York. Solo exhibitions: Grand Café,
Saint-Nazaire, France (2008); Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania (2007); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2006);
P.S.1, New York (2003); Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York (2004, 2006, 2007). Groups shows: SFMoMA
(2008); Manifesta 7, Bolzano (2008). In 2007, he was awarded the Calder Prize. He will represent Lithuania at the
Venice Biennial in 2009.
Catalog: The exhibition will be accompanied by the first monograph on Zilvinas Kempinas, with a foreword and an
interview with the artist by Gerald Matt, texts by Daniel Marzona and Synne Genzmer, approx. 40 color and b/w
illustrations, 72 pages, published in German and English versions by Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg
Press conference: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 10am
Opening: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 7pm
Kunsthalle Wien
Museumsplatz 1 - Wien
Daily 10am – 7pm, Thursdays 10am – 10pm