From 15 November 2019 to 18 October 2020, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich will host the exhibition “Ingo Maurer intim. Design or What?”
From 15 November 2019 to 18 October 2020, the spaces of Die Neue Sammlung, one of the four museums of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, will host a retrospective exhibition dedicated to Ingo Maurer titled “Ingo Maurer intim. Design or What?”. The exhibition explores the artistic life of the designer, who died in Munich on 21 October 2019.
A man who, with his creations, revolutionized the concept of light in the design universe, turning every technical project into pure poetry.
The 80 objects on show illustrate his career from the ’60s to nowadays. Some of them were made by Maurer especially for this exhibition, including a special version of the Golden Ribbon that floats in the exhibition space over visitors’ heads, and two versions of the Eclipse Ellipse wall lamp that, placed along a 10 m high wall, create an intriguing interplay of light and shadow.
Ingo Maurer: his career across design, art and architecture
The exhibition “Ingo Maurer intim. Design or What?” explores the themes with which the lighting designer often dealt in his works. But also the design techniques and materials he adopted, such as light bulb, LED, gold, paper. Also the first classics are on show, including Bulb and Giant Bulb (from 1966), Thomas Alva Edison (1979), YaYaHo low-voltage wire systems for halogen reflector lamps (1984) and some of his most iconic works such as Lucellino or Zettel’z. Visitors will be able to experience their design and development through several images, prototypes and sketches.
Installations and public works
The lifts of the Paternoster Hall of the museum show Maurer’s public works and installations, with models, renderings and photographs. Among the many examples, we can mention Biotop (2011), made with green natural sponges and butterflies; the Wintergarten made for the Residenztheater of Munich, which represents the artist’s latest idea of lighting design; the installation Silver Cloud made for Issey Miyake showroom in London and a new luminous lettering presented for the first time on 19 October 2019. Broken Egg (2013), designed for the art museum Inhotim in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is an architectural project that has not been built yet.
The Paternoster Hall houses also lighting designs with OLED technology and color displays that emit their own light.
Ingo Maurer’s projects and technological evolution, between experiments and huge successes
Ingo Maurer is considered as a major pioneer in the application of advanced techniques in lighting design. Technology and its evolution always encouraged him to experiment. His first experiments with bulbs in the ’60s made history. In the ’80s he invented low-voltage wire systems that were imitated by many others without reaching the emblematic spirit of the master. Furthermore, Ingo Maurer was the first designer who used OLED technology in 2006, with Flying Future.
During an interview he said: “First, the idea of an object arises in my head – like a dream. Only in the next step I search together with my team for ways for the realization. Sometimes it takes decades until the technical developments make our imagination possible.”
Ingo Maurer’s first personal exhibition since 1992: his farewell to the world
Ingo Maurer was so successful at shaping his visions that his works have been exhibited in major museums such as the National Design Museum in New York, Centre Georges Pompidou in Parigi and Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam, just to mention some of them.
“Ingo Maurer intim. Design or What?” is the designer’s first personal exhibition in Munich, following the exhibition held at Villa Stuck in 1992. It is curated by Angelika Nollert, director of Die Neue Sammlung, and Xenia Riemann, its curator, in close collaboration with the artist and his team.
With this exhibition, the genius of light says farewell to the world leaving his last traces. [Text Carlotta Russo]
