Kuno Grommers NL, b. 1946

Whereas photography often brings time and movement to a standstill within the frame of an image, Kuno Grommers uses the camera to capture the spatial dynamics of a static image. Abstract geometric shapes and large areas of colour are the starting point for installations that seem to defy the laws of gravity. The optical illusions putting our powers of perception to the test are the result of Kuno’s innovative play with two important mainstays of photography: light and darkness. These illusions do not involve digital manipulation of any kind, seeing as his method of working is analogue.

The wooden floor of his studio, which has served as a reference point in this ongoing series for fifteen years, offers a clue as to Kuno’s working process. Its paint-spotted surface betrays the manual labour that makes these installations possible: weeks of preparatory work, during which he carefully designs, measures and manually builds the composition. Yet it takes only a millisecond to immortalize the result in a photograph. Then he starts the process all over again and there are new spots of paint to testify to the three-dimensional reality of these installations. Over the past 15 years, Grommers has made more than 120 installations and photographs that testify to his great skill in the areas of composition, repetition and experimentation.