Kunsthaus Bregenz opens first Austrian exhibition of Torkwase Dyson

The Kunsthaus Bregenz is presenting the first Austrian exhibition of Chicago-born artist Torkwase Dyson, whom ORF describes as one of the world’s most significant artists. The show opens on October 17 and runs until January 24.

Two large, wedge-shaped monoliths called “Hypershapes” dominate the entrance hall. Their forms evoke sails or ship hulls, recalling vessels used to transport enslaved people from Africa to America.

Craft businesses in the Bregenzerwald made the sculptures from poplar plywood. Dyson spent days coating them with black glaze. The works echo her contribution to the current Venice Biennale, where she presented black, disc-shaped elements made using the same technique.

Dyson said her work explores how people create, use and divide space, and the possibilities for imagining new kinds of space and worlds. Some pieces in Bregenz were completed in place, allowing her to respond to the building and its light, she said at a press preview on Thursday. Kunsthaus director Thomas D. Trummer called the result specific to the location.

Large, untitled paintings in blue and black tones fill the museum’s top floor, which is lit by daylight. Dyson said the acrylic works abstract waterways and places marked by colonial trauma. They also evoke constellations that people fleeing toward freedom have used for navigation. The exhibition also includes rectangular and circular works from her “Bird and Lava” series, made with layers of acrylic and ink.