Otto Piene: Paths to Paradise

Otto Piene: Paths to Paradise accompanies an extensive museum exhibition that features the visionary, intermedial works of Otto Piene (1928-2014). This catalogue presents new scholarship on the development of his imaginative approaches to interlace art, science, and nature and uncover strategies of coping in an increasingly uncertain world. In the spirit of Piene’s transatlantic career, this richly illustrated catalogue features essays by emerging and established art historians and curators from the U.S. and Europe. Shedding light on the life-affirming vision Piene developed in the wake of World War II, these texts consider the ambition of his work in a range of media and contexts—television, kinetic sculpture, drawing, painting, performance—that incorporates the ephemeral through its atmospheric effects and shared social experiences.

A collection of art by German visionary artist Otto Piene, with accompanying essays.

Otto Piene: Paths to Paradise accompanies an extensive museum exhibition that features the visionary, intermedial works of Otto Piene (1928–2014). This volume presents new scholarship on the development of his imaginative approaches to interlacing art, science, and nature, and uncovering strategies for coping in an increasingly uncertain world. In the spirit of Piene’s transatlantic career, this richly illustrated catalog features essays by emerging and established art historians and curators from the United States and Europe. Shedding light on the life-affirming vision Piene developed in the wake of World War II, these texts consider the ambition of his work in a range of media and contexts, including television, kinetic sculpture, drawing, painting, and performance, that incorporate the ephemeral through its atmospheric effects and shared social experiences.