Light Pieces

Light Pieces is made up of a series of current works or reconstitutions of historic works, including the famous Ambiente Spaziale, a neon made by Lucio Fontana in 1951 for the 9th Triennial of Milan, Lichtraum by Otto Piene from 1960, Five Words in Yellow Neon (1966) by Joseph Kosuth, Perimetro (1967) by Emilio Prini, The Missing Poem is the Poem (1969) by Maurizio Nannucci, the large installation 2 trames de tirets en néon avec programmation par le spectateur (1971) by François Morellet, Untitled (To a Man George McGovern) (1972) by Dan Flavin, Expanded SEL II and IV (1978-99), Dot Dash Corner (1979-91) by Keith Sonnier and Diver (1988) by Bruce Nauman.Besides, the exhibition will provide an opportunity for artists to carry out site-specific works such as All art has been contemporary by Maurizio Nannucci, Souvenirs Fragiles by Christina Kubisch, ":"  by Anne Marie Jugnet and Alain Clairet, as well as installations by Martin Kaar, Mischa Kuball, Karl Kühberger, Claude Lévêque and Michel Verjux.

In the course of the past few years, the amount of exhibitions dealing with light in 20th-century art have increased in Europe (LUMIA = AD International Light Art, Charlottenborg, Denmark, 1999; Lichtparcours 2000, Braunschweig, 1999, to mention just a few). In differing degrees, it was meant, on the one hand, to acknowledge that electricity has been a major force in transforming our life styles, and that it has found its proper place in today's art forms. On the other hand, it means inventorying and placing in a historical perspective, works carried out via electric light, and underlining their originality compared to other artistic developments, while still remaining a part of them. Finally, perhaps responding to a "fin de siècle" awareness or to the announcement of a radiant millennium, it must be admitted that lightworks are undeniably attractive and have generated a very special interest latterly.Light Pieces does not attempt to be all-encompassing nor to be a historical demonstration. Three generations of artists are taking part, without there being any clear distinctions between them: those who are now part and parcel of the artistic legacy of the second half of the 20th century - Fontana (*1899), Morellet (*1926), Flavin (*1931), Nannucci (*1939), Nauman (*1941), Prini (*1943) - an intermediary generation who continued and enlarged their precursors' findings, while pursuing their own very personal and divergent interests - Kubisch (*1948), Lévêque (*1953), Verjux (*1956), Jugnet/Clairet (*1958/1958), Kuball (*1959) - and a younger generation exploring new territories while taking into account the previous experiments - Kühberger (*1964) and Kaar (*1974).By fully employing the layout of the exhibition spaces in the Casino Luxembourg, Light Pieces will present, in principle, a single work in each "white cube" of the building, hence avoiding any interference between the individual pieces. Each work will thus be confronted by the viewer's immediate sight. This layout will encourage the discovery of differing aspects in the creation of light works during the last 50 years such as formal and/or theoretical approaches, visual and environmental poetry, bodily awareness, their relationship with architecture and urbanism.