exhibition: forking paths

With Channa Horwitz, Brigitte Kowanz, Jenna Sutela and Gabriella Torres-Ferrer, forking paths unites four artists for the first time whose mutual interest lies in the connection between art and technology. In historical and recent works, this group exhibition demonstrates their central engagement with codes, data, patterns and language, which each of them interpret and transform individually, sometimes creating distinct systems.

The title of this exhibition is inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan“ (1941) (The Garden of Forking Paths), in which the Argentinian writer and poet anticipates the possibility of parallel worlds through the interpretation of quantum mechanics. His hypertextual style, which does not follow linear temporality and is of a labyrinthine quality using symbols and patterns, can be transferred to the works in the exhibition. Here several realities and systems co-exist while creating their own logic. The artists pose questions about the meaning of control and randomness through the perception of data processing and scientific systems.

Channa Horwitz’ notations on paper follow strict formal rules that represent movement in time and space. Brigitte Kowanz combines morse code and alphanumeric notations with neon light. Using artificial intelligence, Jenna Sutela examines the relationship between organic and anorganic systems. Gabriella Torres-Ferrer calls into question the equalization of economic and ecological processes using live broadcast market figures on microcomputers and commodities or found consumer products.

Opening | Munich

Thursday 2 February

6 – 9 pm

Channa Horwitz (1932–2013, California, US) was the first and only female to have her project proposal included in the catalogue of the renowned Art and Technology Programme of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1970.

Brigitte Kowanz (1957–2022, Vienna, AT) was awarded the Great Austrian States Prize in 2009 for her complete works that incorporates light, speech and code. In 2017 her work was exhibited at the Austrian Pavillion at the 57th Biennale in Venice.

Jenna Sutela (*1983, Turku, FI) works with biological and computational systems, including the human microbiome and artificial neural networks to create sculptures, images and music.

Gabriella Torres-Ferrer (*1987, Arecibo, PR) was awarded the Artist-in-Residence-stipend at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart for 2020–2021 and received an honorary mention as guest artist at CERN Collide in Geneva.

The exhibition comprises works from the estate of Channa Horwitz and the estate of Brigitte Kowanz and takes place in collaboration with Lisson Gallery, London, New York and Shanghai and Embajada, Puerto Rico.

→ further informations about the artists' oeuvre in the viewing room