Topped with a roof shaped like a crabshell, Le Corbusier’s Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut is a sanctuary amid the French mountainside. The 1955 construction rests atop a hill in Ronchamp, standing unobstructed by the otherwise forested inclines. As the sun rises and falls, light filters in through the mélange of rectangular windows tinted to cast streams of color around the space.
The stained glass apertures of Le Corbusier’s modernist chapel are a clear reference point for Luftwerk’s “Open Frame.” The site-specific work fills a cavernous corner of Secrist | Beach with a collection of rectangular aluminum panels painted with acrylic and, most notably, fluorescent. Where the pioneering architect sought a natural backlight in the sun, Luftwerk relies on the properties of the paint to achieve a luminous glow. The only external source is a handful of strategically placed LED spotlights that bathe the entire installation in purple when in use.
“Open Frame” is one of the many pieces in the artists’ latest exhibition that extends their unyielding interest in light and color. The Sun Standing Still features a collection of sculptures and installations that harness the principles of color theory, explore space, and elicit various sensory experiences. The artists, Chicago-based Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero (previously), draw on the characteristics of sunlight as it broaches the horizon, cultivating a body of work that conjures luminosity through negative space and pigment.
Long interested in perspective, Luftwerk presents several works that appear dramatically different depending on the viewer’s position. The Solargraph series, for example, references the long-duration images that capture the sun’s path between solstices. Stretching across the gallery, these works incorporate skinny, aluminum strips painted white on one side and bisected by various hues on the inverse. As the viewer moves, so does the perception of the piece, revealing an expanse of faintly tinted white before shifting to a bright arc of color.
Relatedly, the freestanding Aperture of Twilight sculptures place five panels cut with differently sized openings eight inches apart. Painted on one side, the layers form a sort of portal or entrance, inviting a closer look. The circular Aurae Quartet pieces function similarly as they utilize concentric rings to capture a sense of movement inward or out.
If you’re in Chicago, you can see The Sun Standing Still through February 28. Find more from the artists on their website and Instagram.
