The Xippas Gallery is very pleased to present the first gallery solo show in Switzerland of Robert Irwin’s work. Irwin, who is a pivotal figure in the Los Angeles art scene for the last five decades and founding member of the “Light and Space” movement, is also one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
Three light works will be presented, all imagined with the gallery in mind. This recent work of a fascinating beauty explores the interplay between light and color, and reminds us of the painter he was in the beginning of his career. More to the point, Irwin manipulates the way that color emitted from fluorescent tube lights shines and disseminates through space by playing with the chromatic rhythms as well as the syncopated oscillation of color hues, of temperatures and light densities. The intense presence of the Robert Irwin’s works cannot be grasped through the observation of their light devices alone, but instead through an awareness of the space that his color phenomena inhabit and the harmony they establish with time and natural light.
These light installations are unique in that they don’t dazzle the spectator by exploiting elements of the spectacle, but instead they open his eyes to a certain sensibility and perception. In doing so, the installations allow for as many readings of a work as there are ways of looking at it. Robert Irwin’s art is constantly in dialogue with the mind of the spectator – a consciousness of the world, free from all prejudices, which has been broadened by life experiences and a sense of perception that gives equal status to feelings and intellect, to beauty and truth.
The works by Robert Irwin are in the permanent collections of the most important museums. Numerous institutions have shown his work: the Dia:Beacon, New York this year, the Whitney Museum of America Art, New York in 1977 and 2013, the San Diego Contemporary Art Museum in 2008, the Dia:Chelsea, New York in 1999, the MoCA of Los Angeles in 1993, the San Francisco MoMA in 1985, the MoMA, New York in 1970, … He produced the installation for the United States Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1976.
