The sculpture «Tipping Point» from 2018 can be cited as an example of these new contend-related tendencies in Kowanz’ œuvre. The work’s title is set as neon letters into a mirror cube where it is multiple repeated, superimposed and condensed. This results in a visual pull, creating an almost physical experience of the meaning of «tipping point»: the expression refers to a tilting moment in a previously uniform movement, which is abruptly aborted or greatly accelerated by certain factors. Today, the term is often related to our planet’s alarming climatic changes, but it seems to be just as fitting for the rapid increase in speed to which our living environment was subject in the course of digitalization. In the works related to the Venice Biennial, Kowanz already addressed this issue, and it now echoes in our current show. For example, the neon writing «beyond imagination» (2017) refers to the unimaginable flood of information in the age of the Worldwide Web. Global political associations are also triggered by the likewise new neon sign «face the fact» (2018) or by the circular led letters of «united in diversity» (2018).

Other works revolve around the question of what art is and can be today, for example the two mirror vitrines «Allegory» (2017) and «authentic» (2017), but also the freely led neon writing of
«Immersion I» (2017). These terms are often and quickly quoted in connection with art, but upon closer consideration – which Kowanz claims by materializing them – they reveal a great deal about our expectations of art and about its sensitizing potential. With «lightness» of 2017 Kowanz furthermore addresses the basic theme of her work: the conscious perception of light – and with it the reflection on perception itself.

We are particularly pleased that Kowanz introduces two completely new types of work in our exhibition: the «Reflects» consisting of aluminum, reflecting foil and a transparent varnish applied by the artist emphasize light’s magical and painterly quality. Furthermore Kowanz first presents a series of drawings that symbolize her creative process in between real, virtual and imagined space.

Our presentation thus provides an overview of Kowanz’ manifold artistic language, opening up vast spaces of thought on both the formal and the content level.