Brigitte Kowanz

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Brigitte Kowanz (born April 13, 1957 in Vienna, † January 28, 2022 in Vienna ) was an Austrian artist . Kowanz studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna from 1975 to 1980 . From 1997 to 2021 she was professor for transmedia art there.

life and work

Brigittes Kowanz was the daughter of the well-known soccer player Karl Kowanz (1926-1998), her mother Edith worked as a clerk, her older brother Karl (* 1951) became a graphic artist. Brigitte Kowanz graduated from the Kunstgymnasium in Vienna in 1975, then studied – like her brother before her – at the University of Applied Arts and graduated in 1980 with a Magister Artium.

Since the 1980s, Kowanz's work has focused on the investigation of space and light . At the beginning of this exploration, between 1979 and 1984, in collaboration with Franz Graf , he created paper and canvas paintings with phosphorescent and fluorescent pigments. From 1984 Kowanz developed the first light objects made of bottles, fluorescent lamps and fluorescent paint. Complex spatial images and light-shadow projections were created with simple means.

However, light was not only the material, but often also the subject of Kowanz's works. Since 1989 she has been dealing with the speed of light in her own work complex . A tiny decimal number in neon digits indicates the time in seconds that the light needs to cover the length of this row of numbers. One of the themes that Kowanz had also been dealing with since the 1980s was language and writing and their translation into codes . She examined light as a space-forming medium as well as an information carrier and medium of knowledge and visibility.

Since 1995, Kowanz has also regularly used Morse code for coding, starting with simple dash-dot combinations. As a binary code, it represents the origin of information transmission with light. Kowanz used (semi-)transparent glass and mirrors in particular in her more recent works . This led to a diverse superimposition of virtual and real levels in her three-dimensional objects. The reciprocal mirroring of light, language and mirrors (Rainer Fuchs) created hybrid spaces whose boundaries seemed clearly defined one moment, but dissolved the next. Real space and virtual mirror image penetrated each other, the boundaries between artwork and viewer became fluid. The preoccupation with the intangible physics of light, which - although a guarantee of visibility - is itself easily overlooked, continued in the works of Brigitte Kowanz.

Kowanz lived and worked in Vienna, where she died as a result of a long and serious illness.

awards

Exhibitions (selection)

Art in public space (selection)

Lünerseepark Bürs
Light score (2000/2001), Munich

Works in museums and public collections (selection)

Austria

International

Literature (selection)

  • Beate Ermacora, Gregor Jansen: Brigitte Kowanz - in light of light. Publishing house for modern art, Nuremberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86984-283-7 .
  • Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz: Think outside the box. Verlag Das Wunderhorn, Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-88423-388-7 .
  • Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz. Now I see. Publishing house for modern art, Nuremberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-86984-141-0 .
  • Agnes Husslein-Arco, Gerald Bast (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz: ad infinitum. Belvedere, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-901508-42-4 .
  • Galleria Contemporaneo, Mestre (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz. Dario De Bastiani Editore, 2007, ISBN 978-88-8466-105-0 .
  • University of Applied Arts, Vienna (ed.): more L978T. Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85211-131-5 .
  • Christian Reder: Inquiring ways of thinking. Essays on artistic work (on Brigitte Kowanz and others), Edition Transfer by Springer, Vienna/New York 2004, ISBN 3-211-20523-3 .
  • Wolfgang Häusler (ed.): Another time another place, Brigitte Kowanz. Munich 2002, ISBN 3-9808494-0-6 .
  • Wolfgang Häusler (ed.): Zeitlicht-Lichtraum, Brigitte Kowanz. Hatje-Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 2001, ISBN 3-7757-9108-6 .
  • University of Applied Arts Vienna (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz. Illuminate the meantime of the shadow jump. Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-85211-064-5 .
  • light is what you see. Brigitte Kowanz. Triton Verlag, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-901310-77-0 .
  • Vienna Secession (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz. Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-900803-63-3 .

web links

Commons : Brigitte Kowanz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ↑ Light artist Brigitte Kowanz died at the age of 64 , kurier.at, January 30, 2022
  2. ↑ Brigitte Kowanz m.munzinger.de, accessed January 31, 2022
  3. ↑ Riccardo Caldura: Adherence, relational opening: elements for reflection. In: Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz. Now I see. Publisher for modern art, Nuremberg 2010, pp. 218-232.
  4. ↑ Christian Reder: Light = measure = form = existence - On Brigitte Kowanz and working with codes. In: Reder, Christian: Researching ways of thinking - essays on artistic work. Vienna/ New York, 2004, pp. 25–34.
  5. ↑ Rainer Fuchs: Precise specification of the limitless. In: Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna (ed.): Brigitte Kowanz. Now I see. Publisher for modern art, Nuremberg 2010, pp. 32-38.
  6. ↑ Light artist Brigitte Kowanz died. In : ORF.at. January 30, 2022, retrieved January 31, 2023 .
  7. ↑ 2015 – Culture Prize Winners of the State of Lower Austria ( Memento from November 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).
  8. ↑ Brigitte Kowanz - Lost under the Surface
  9. ↑ Brigitte Kowanz. submerged Albertina, retrieved January 9, 2022 .
personal data
SURNAME Kowanz, Brigitte
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian artist
BIRTH DATE April 13, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 2022
PLACE OF DEATH Vienna