When visiting a Peter Kogler exhibition, you might think you made a wrong turn into a hall of mirrors. It’s actually his art.
What M.C. Escher did with his trippy drawings, Kogler does on walls, floors, and ceilings. For more than 30 years, the Austrian artist has been transforming subways, art museums, and lobbies using computer-generated optical illusions. Kogler also uses projections and silkscreens that morph solid structures into abstract, sinuous surfaces.
Viewers of Kogler’s art get the rare chance to walk around inside a piece of art. Kogler challenges a viewer’s sense of depth, place, and maybe sanity via black-and-white patterns that appear to have a life of their own.
Clearly inspired by minimalism and pop art, Kogler’s recent works utilize architecture, cinema, and new media.
In his earlier works, the Austrian artist would employ objects and shapes that viewers would recognize, like ants and light bulbs. He’s also dabbled in metal sculptures. But Kogler’s floor-to-ceiling illusions are the most hypnotic.
Last year, Kogler’s work was featured in an exhibition at the ING Art Center in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to that, his mind-bending art has been on display at ERES Stiftung in Germany, the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art in Croatia, and the Berardo Museum in Portugal.
See more of Kogler’s work below. Learn more about the artist here.
—RealClearLife Staff
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