Viera Collaro – Levitation. Compassion. Transcendence.

Danish-American artist Viera Collaro opens the exhibition year at ARoS. The artist’s long-standing fascination with light as an artistic medium, as well as humanity’s role in the world, forms the focal point of the exhibition.

In the exhibition *Levitation. Compassion. Transcendence.*, it is the light artist Viera Collaro’s characteristic spiritual depth and simplicity that come to the fore. The exhibition as a whole features three installations exploring three spiritual stages.

‘In my practice, the immaterial quality of light cannot be separated from the spiritual. It is about my interest in who we are and why we are here in the world. Through the light’s lightness, spatiality and intangibility, I wish to point to something that is greater than ourselves and yet exists within us all,’ says Viera Collaro.

Viera Collaro is a leading figure on the Danish light art scene, known for creating sensory and minimalist installations that convey an inner light or the underlying essence of existence.

- Generally speaking, Collaro’s works engage us with a pulsating spirituality to such an extent that one is often left speechless and uplifted at the same time. We are therefore delighted to present three of her works, including a brand-new piece entitled *Transcendence*, which together form a kind of total spiritual experience,’ says Maria Kappel Blegvad, curator and exhibition manager at ARoS.

The exhibition is organised as a sequence. It begins with *Levitation* (2003), a sculptural and spatial light installation that bears witness to Collaro’s interest in meditative practice and in the energy or uplifting force which, according to several yogis and spiritual scientists, can cause a meditating person to levitate.

This is followed by *Compassion* (2006), a light- and text-based work that emphasises the importance of compassion and empathy, which, in Collaro’s view, also entails a recognition that we are all spiritually connected. The work consists of a text in highly polished brass, where the word ‘Compassion’ is accompanied by circles of coloured light that overlap and interact with one another.

In the exhibition’s final room, the journey culminates in an encounter with a brand-new installation, *Transcendence* (2022), which consists of RGB lights in various colours and several panels of white fabric that together form an illuminated and colourful labyrinth. Transcendence explores the moment when, existentially speaking, we transcend ourselves in a state of restful wakefulness, and where new insights take root on a deeper level.

About the artist

Viera Collaro was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, in 1946. She trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1971 to 1975. She currently lives and works in Copenhagen. Several of her works can be found in public spaces. Among other things, she is the creator of the light installations *Ringen* (1997), which adorns the façade of Kulturhuset in Randers; *Tonalities* (2010), which can be seen on the façade of the Atlas venue in Aarhus; and *Buen* (2018), which stretches 32 metres across the raw concrete surface of K.B. Hallen. Collaro has an impressive CV, featuring solo exhibitions, public art commissions and participation in group exhibitions from the 1970s to the present day. She has also received a long list of awards. For example, she was awarded the Thorvaldsen Medal in 2015; in 2021, she was the recipient of the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Scholarship; and in 2006, she was awarded a lifetime grant from the Danish Arts Foundation.

Esben Weile Kjær: performance

Esben Weile Kjær (b. 1992) works in the fields of performance, light and installation art. He also holds Viera Collaro’s art in the highest regard. ARoS has therefore invited him to open the exhibition with a performative speech on light.

He will present his performance speech at the official exhibition opening on Friday 11 February.

Institutional collaboration

LEVITATION. COMPASSION. TRANSCENDENCE. will also mark the start of Viera Collaro’s major retrospective solo exhibition, which will be shown at Randers Art Museum in 2023.

The exhibition has been made possible with support from:

• The Danish Arts Foundation

• The L.P. Foght Foundation

Press photos:

Press photos may be downloaded free of charge, provided the photographer’s name is credited.

For further information, please contact:

ARoS Press and Communications
presse@aros.dk
+45 61904942

Levitation, 2003, Overgaden, Copenhagen Photo: Anders Sune Berg