Brigitte Kowanz (b. 1957) is an Austrian artist who lives and works in Vienna.

Kowanz has been revolutionizing the role of light in art for almost half a century. She is fascinated by how people perceive and respond to their surroundings, and with how light can shape and shift reality.

Her early art involved the use of phosphorescent and fluorescent pigments on flat surfaces. This led to her creation of three-dimensional “light objects” and the use of mirrors. More recently, Kowanz has incorporated text into her works through LED tubing, addressing the power of language in defining our understanding of what we see. Besides using Latin script, Kowanz employs the non-linear codified language of Morse code.

As the representative of Austria at the Venice Biennale in 2017 along with Erwin Wurm, Kowanz created a complex installation that can be considered the culmination of all of her practices. The exhibition Infinity and Beyond is populated with mirrors, neon, writing, and code that manipulate the physical space of the pavilion. Light in this context serves to reproduce and disseminate ideas and create new possibilities, rather than to illuminate or enhance pre-existing matter.

Artist Brigitte Kowanz talks about her project and working with glass in Berengo Studio's Furnace for Glasstress 2017 © Glasstress 2017 Follow GLASSTRESS: FB: https://www.facebook.com/Glasstress Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glasstress/ Website: http://www.glasstress.org/

Featured in major international exhibitions, including

the Hayward Gallery in London
MACRO in Rome
Lenbachhaus in Munich
the Shanghai Art Museum
the Sharjah Art Foundation
the Modern Art Museum in Salzburg

Kowanz’s work is also housed in the Deutsche Bank Collection, the ARCO Foundation collection, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Venezuela and the Munich Re Art Collection.