Light players: György Kepes and Frank Malina

From technology to art and back

3 September – 7 November 2010
Ludwig Museum

György Kepes (1906−2001) and Czech born Frank Malina (1912−1981) explored in their work and experiments the fusion of science and art, referring back to the universal thinking of Renaissance man. Both artists had East European roots and both were strongly influenced by modernist theories. Kepes is often referred to as a “light artist”: his paintings, photograms, photographs and kinetic works have their roots in his light and shadow studies, the use of light as a creative medium, carried out when working as a colleague of Moholy-Nagy in the thirties. Malina was undertaking similar experiments in his kinetic works at his studio in Paris, seeking a solution to the conundrum of what role the artist/scientist might assume in modern society. Malina and Kepes both strove to reunite social and national history studies through their work as teachers and by spreading information about art and technology. The Ludwig Museum exhibition aims to present the two artists through the parallels that can be discovered between them.

Organiser: Ludwig Museum