Otto Piene - 360° Rainbow - image-1

Lot 529 D

Otto Piene - 360° Rainbow

Auction 1042 - overview Cologne
29.11.2014, 12:00 - Contemporary Art
Estimate: 30.000 € - 40.000 €
Result: 32.240 € (incl. premium)

Otto Piene

360° Rainbow
2000

Acrylic and traces of fire on canvas. 30 x 40 cm. The canvas and stretcher frame verso signed, dated and titled '"360° Rainbow" OPiene (ligated) 2000' and with directional arrows and information. - Traces of studio.

‚Piene uses oil and spray paint in the preparation of his paintings. Once the configuration on the surface promises what he wants, Piene sets fire to the pigment. There is an intense flame as it burns quickly, but he has two options for control: he can tilt and turn the work, making the burning paint run, combining fire and liquidity; and he can extinguish the fire, the decisive act. The technique combines predictable elements (the knowledge gained from earlier fire paintings) and surprises (the rapid combustion can produce effects outside the artist´s anticipation). The color with which the picture started is not lost but appears residually in the form of oxides: the charred surface is rich in red-black, blue-black, and orange-black. The color, bound to the canvas by the unifying effect of heat, is described by Piene as “harmonious” and “anonymous”. He wants the sense of the sweep of an enveloping process, fusing the parts of the image. The anonymity of which he speaks comes from consigning the personally-shaped object to a process that works by physical laws beyond the artist´s full command. Tough the fire can be directed and ended by the artist, we recognize the traces of combustion no less than that of human touch in the end-state. The work can be said to incorporate neutral processes.' (Ante Glibota, Otto Piene, Villorba 2011, p.70)

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist; private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia