In Living Color

Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, collectively known as Luftwerk, approach their art exceptionally scientifically. The duo met in 1999 while studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and soon discovered a shared interest in installations that transform and sculpt spaces using light, color, and texture. Asked how they came up with the name Luftwerk, they replied: “We wanted to find a name that reflected how people experience our work.” Luft (air) stands for the ephemeral, immaterial, and volatile properties of their favorite material, light. Werk (work, artwork) alludes to the materiality of surfaces, structures, and methods and defines the framework in which light and sound take shape. Their work shifts the viewer’s perceptions of space and site by manipulating light and color.

Luftwerk’s inspiration for Cheekwood’s installation stems from their discovery of Nomenclature of Colours, a book by German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1814. This tome was so groundbreaking that Charles Darwin carried a copy with him when he traveled in 1831 to the Madeira, Canary, and Cape Verde Islands on the HMS Beagle. This pre-photographic era book was used by artists, scientists, and naturalists as a tool to standardize color with its 108 swatches. The color samples provide detailed descriptions of each color in animal, vegetable, and mineral. For example, No. 76 Dutch Orange is described as Crest of Golden Crested Wren (A), Common Marigold, Seedpod of Spindle-tree (V), Streak of Red Orpiment (M), and accompanied by a painted chip. This document was the precursor of the modern Pantone system.

Werner’s guide inspired Luftwerk to create installations intended to lead visitors to understand better how we perceive the physical world through color. “Cheekwood is a special place that merges history, nature, and art with an extensive sculpture trail and museum galleries; a fascinating sphere to experience how history, landscape, art, and culture weave and grow together,” says Bachmaier and Gallero. “We couldn’t envision a more ideal site to exhibit, engage and illuminate our artwork. Our hope is that visitors will celebrate the colors of the natural world through this immersive journey and will feel enriched by exploring the colorful confluence of art, history, and natural sciences.”

In the Color Garden, Luftwerk worked with Cheekwood’s Peter Grimaldi to create Painter’s Palette, positioning flowers in colorful groupings. This installation unfolds into Color Suite in Topography, a design of 110 ten-foot flags installed in a serpentine over the landscape of the Arboretum Lawn. The Bracken Children’s Garden’s Prairie Blooms are on a child’s level for interactive play. What is fascinating is that the color palettes that Luftwerk utilizes in the flags and flowers are patterns of color that look more like solid colors when they move or spin.

Up the driveway in the Mansion’s Portico is your next color experience. Sky Blue is a breathtaking installation of shades of blue, from bright white to deep midnight. Finally, at the end of the Portico is a disc that glows bright white against the darkest of backgrounds.

The Looking Hall is where you can see Luftwerk’s thought process come to life, with the display of minerals in beakers and pigment samples. A copy of Nomenclature of Colours is on display on loan from the University of Chicago Libraries. The exhibition galleries on the Mansion’s top floor use botanical colors combined with color-changing light conditions to fascinating effect. Using pigments and LED lighting, they show many mesmerizing examples of how light and movement affect color.

“Interdisciplinary, deeply researched, and driven by an experimental curiosity, Luftwerk’s creative practice is both highly cerebral and utterly enjoyable,” says the exhibition’s curator Dr. Marin Sullivan. “They have created a truly unique and immersive exhibition for Cheekwood, and I am certain Colorscapes will delight and surprise our visitors.”

Luftwerk is on view May 7–Sept. 4, 2022. Cheekwood is open Tuesday – Sunday, 9am – 5pm, and Thursdays from 9am to 9pm. Admission must be purchased in advance online. For tickets and more information about Colorscapes and all of Cheekwood’s current and upcoming exhibitions, visit cheekwood.org.