Ann Veronica Janssens

Bortolami is hosting a solo exhibition of Ann Veronica Janssens, coinciding with her show at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas. Using light as her primary material, Janssens manipulates negative spaces to create interactive experiences. Sharing similar concerns with Light and Space artists (like sensory phenomena, translucence, and ambience), Janssens focuses on challenging viewers’ perceptions. Her luminous installations create gradient zones between light and shadow, and opacity and transparency. The exhibition begins with an eight-foot fluorescent light piercing the wall. The light accompanies visitors as they pass from the entrance to the main gallery, linking the two different spaces with shared luminosity. Inside, Janssens presents a mound of blue glitter, echoing the sweeping gestures of action painting while adopting the floor as another work surface. Two platinum structures, seemingly floating from the wall, flank the space. They both block visibility and reflect one’s gaze. A set of gilded California blinds hangs on the far wall, both precious and mundane in its material and function. In the third room, Janssens installed an iconic haze sculpture that materializes light into a star-shaped form. This materiality, however, is evasive. Its palpability is purely visual. Janssens’ intervention provides the minimum conditions necessary for the viewer to experience light as a solid, yet intangible, object.