Sperone Westwater is pleased to present a retrospective of painting, sculpture, and installation by Otto Piene, the co-founder of the ZERO group, who died in 2014 at the age of 86. Embodying several important themes in the artist’s work across six decades, the exhibition is the first solo presentation of Piene’s work in New York since his 2010 exhibition at Sperone Westwater. Piene was featured prominently in the Guggenheim’s 2014–2015 survey exhibition “ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–1960s,” as well as in major ZERO group exhibitions in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Istanbul. In the past two years, Piene has been the subject of four solo retrospectives in Germany and one in Iran. Red Sundew 2, 1970, an early inflatable sculpture, is installed for the first time since its initial exhibition at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
Otto Piene, “Untitled”, 1967, fire gouache on board, 26 3/4 x 37 5/8 inches (67,9 x 95,5 cm)
Otto Piene, “Hängende Lichtkugel”, 1972 , chrome-plated brass 89 3/8 x 27 1/2 inches (227 x 70 cm)Otto Piene “Untitled (Raster-Rauchzeichnung)”, 1959, soot on paper 28 x 39 1/3 inches (71×100 cm) 29 3/4 x 40 7/8 inches (75,6 x 103,8 cm) frame
Otto Piene, “Untitled”, 1960, pigment and soot on paper, 22 x 15 inches (55,5 x 38 cm)Otto Piene, “Aurora”, 1974 gouache and soot on paper 40 x 32 inches (101,6 x 81,3 cm) 44 1/8 x 36 inches (112 x 91,4 cm) frameOtto Piene “Rasterbild”, 1957, /58 oil on canvas, 38 3/4 x 27 5/8 inches (98,4 x 70,2 cm)Otto Piene, “Nachtsonne (The Moon Upon Which It Depends)”, 1964-1965 fire painting on canvas, 59 x 78 3/4 inches (150 x 200 cm)Otto Piene, “Red Sky”, 1967 pigment and soot on paper 18 7/8 x 26 7/8 inches (47,9 x 68,3 cm) 22 1/2 x 30 3/4 inches (57,2 x 78 cm) frameOtto Piene, “3 Black Flowers”, 1967 pigment and soot on board 26 7/8 x 37 5/8 inches (68,3 x 95,6 cm)Otto Piene, “Manufactured Sun”, 1966 pigment and soot on paper 20 1/2 x 22 1/4 inches (52 x 56,5 cm) 26 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches (67,3 x 72,3 cm) frameOtto Piene, “Fear Flower”, 1967 pigment and soot on paper 26 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches (68 x 48 cm)
