Image: Weng Contemporary, Zug
Weng Contemporary has spotlighted Otto Piene’s 'Rastersonne' (2009) in the fifth episode of its Celestial Collection, pairing the work with the zodiac sign Leo. The gallery’s presentation frames the piece as a study in light, energy and elemental force, while connecting its warm bronze tones and luminous finish to themes of vitality and radiance.
According to the gallery, 'Rastersonne' was made in 2009 using ceramic and varnish. Weng Contemporary describes the work as exploring elemental forces such as light, fire and metal, and says its surface reflects light with a discreet shine. The work is presented as a mural relief in ceramic, with viscous varnish dropped through raster barriers onto a prepared clay platter, creating convex and interleaving forms.
Otto Piene, who died in 2014, is identified by Weng Contemporary as one of the most important German post-war artists and a leading figure of the ZERO movement. The gallery’s artist page says Piene, together with Heinz Mack and later Günther Uecker, helped found ZERO in 1957, with the group aiming to begin contemporary art from a kind of point zero, emphasizing light. Weng Contemporary also notes that Piene’s practice moved through raster paintings, smoke and fire paintings, kinetic art and “light ballets,” reflecting a continuing interest in light, fire and air.
The Celestial Collection email positions 'Rastersonne' within that artistic trajectory by stressing the role of light not just as a subject, but as a medium and message. The newsletter says Piene devoted much of his practice to elemental forces capable of shaping perception, and that the 2009 work transforms the sun into a rhythmic constellation of circles that seems to pulse with energy. The text also describes the piece as a celebration of warmth, optimism and the human instinct to reach toward the light.
The Leo framing is part of the newsletter’s monthly format, which pairs a zodiac sign with an artwork from Weng Contemporary’s collection. For this episode, the gallery writes that Leo’s ruling planet, the Sun, symbolizes vitality, confidence, creativity and being seen, and it links those qualities to the work’s visual and material character. The presentation emphasizes that the piece embodies strength and generosity, with brilliance that illuminates rather than overwhelms.
On the artwork page, Weng Contemporary adds a direct quotation from Piene: “With my artworks I want to transmit energy.” The page also notes that the work was created after Piene had discovered ceramic as a new material for his art works in 2006, and that the combination of archaic and modern elements produces a powerful result. Weng Contemporary lists the work under Otto Piene’s available artworks on its site.
