The art of Otto Piene (1928 - 2014) is a symbiosis of light and dark, nature, people and technology. Piene studied art in Munich and Düsseldorf and philosophy in Cologne. Together with Heinz Mack, he founded the artist group ZERO in 1957 which gained great national influence and which was joined by Günther Uecker later as well.
With light, shadow and movement - and for Piene with fire - ZERO was the counterpoint to the dark post-war art. Since the 1990s, Otto Piene created a multi-faceted ceramic oeuvre that unites all its artistic aspects and forms the core of our exhibition. Piene's concern has always been to make phenomena of nature come alive through art. Light has always been an important reference for him - "reflects, paraphrased, stepped and choreographed into bundles, streams and suns" (Otto Piene). His grid ceramics, fire pit works and earthenware are often coated with shiny metal glazes, their surfaces shimmering like a sea in backlight.