–
The exhibition Barbara Kasten is the US-American artist’s first survey exhibition in a European museum conceived in cooperation with the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. For its presentation at the Sammlung Goetz, the artist developed a site-specific color concept, which structures the exhibition space and the various groups of works.
Barbara Kasten (*1936) has created an impressive body of work over her artistic career, spanning from the 1970s to the present. Her oeuvre includes photographs, sculptures, expansive objects and complex multimedia installations. Kasten completed her fine arts studies at the University of Arizona in 1959, earning a degree in painting.
During her time in Germany—from 1964 to 1967—she became acquainted with the Bauhaus and its ideas; intrigued by its interdisciplinary approach, Kasten became interested in the interplay between architecture, space, textiles, stage, light and color.
Inspired by the photograms of Bauhaus teacher Lázló Moholy-Nagy, the artist began experimenting with camera-less photography in 1974. In addition to the German Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism and American Minimal Art, the Californian Light and Space movement significantly influenced Kasten’s work.
The focus of the exhibition are Kasten’s abstract geometric color photographs from her 1980s series Construct and Architectural Site, which explores the interplay of light and shadow and introduces novel spatial experiences. Also on view are other work groups, such as the Photogenic Paintings, camera-less photographs—produced using a chemical iron solution--and Double Negatives, a series of silver gelatin prints, as well as pictorial objects with fluorescent Plexiglas and a video installation by the artist. The broad presentation is a testament to Kasten’s cross-genre artistic approach and her commitment to experimentation.
Curator: Karsten Löckemann
Curatorial assistant: Pietro Tondello
272 pages, 145 ill., hardcover
German/English
2020, Koenig Books, London
ISBN 978-3-96098-774-1
€ 39,90
