Dick, Inge – Galerie Renate Bender

Inge Dick was born 1941 in Vienna, Austria. She lives and works in Innerschwand am Mondsee, Austria.

With her photo projects – whether it is with large Polaroid cameras or with film projects – Inge Dick occupies a distinct place among contemporary photographers and artistic film makers.

In the last few years she has shot the films “herbst licht weiss” (“autumn light white,” 2012), “sommer licht weiss” (“summer light white,” 2013), “frühlings licht weiss” (“spring’s light white,” 2014) and “winter licht weiss” (“winter light white,” 2014/15) as well as stills made from them. All four films document the light and changes in color that occur while filming a white surface for several days. The unbelievable colorfulness of light as it changes in the course of a day or a season is rendered perceptible to the human eye only by the artist’s assemblage of the stills in rows of narrow strips.

Inge Dick’s artistic work is based on a painterly approach. As early as 1975 her white paintings, which initially appear to be monochrome, followed a precise system of color fields that reveal faint traces of other colors.

Stimulated by this investigation of color, the artist began in 1979 to work with Polaroid cameras, a technique that allows to demonstrate the change of color of the light over the day. In the 1990s she realized various works with larger Polaroid cameras to make the subjects of time and light visible. The highlight of the development was ultimately marked in 1999 by Inge Dick’s work with the world’s largest Polaroid camera in Boston, USA. From 2007 onwards her film projects follow the conceptual framework for visualizing time of Inge Dick’s photography: „zinnober“ (2007), „blau, unendlich“ (“blue, infinity” 2010) and the above mentioned cycle “jahres licht weiss" (“a year’s light white" 2012-15).

“Light is Inge Dick’s life-long artistic theme. She works with natural light, a phenomenon that is not tangible but that we perceive as a palpable presence. Working for many years with a variety of media using a meticulous, almost scientific approach, she has succeeded in capturing the substance of light and rendering it visually as its color temperatures change over the course of a day.”

Gerda Ridler

Atelierbesuch bei Inge Dick am Mondsee im Sommer 2008

Visit to Inge Dick's studio at Mondsee, summer 2008

Exhibition view "Inge Dick. A Life for the Light", Galerie Renate Bender 2021

White Paintings

WVZ 2001/8 - 2001, Öl auf Holz, 20-teilig, je 33 x 33 cm

WVZ 2001/8 - 2001, oil on wood, 20 pcs. each 33 x 33 cm

Polaroids

Serie "schwarz"- 14.6.1996 - 15.49 Uhr und 16.6.1996 - 11.56 Uhr - 1996, Mittelformatpolaroid, Unikat, gerahmt, je 94 x 66,5 cm

Serie "schwarz"- 14.6.1996 - 15:49 and 16.6.1996 - 11:56 - 1996, polaroids medium size, unique piece, framed, each 94 x 66,5 cm

a year's light white

frühlings licht weiss 2015/1 – 23./24./25.4.2014 – 18:04:59 – 08:27:53, Fujicolor Crystal Archive auf Aluminium, Acrylglas 1/3, 230 x 120 cm

frühlings licht weiss 2015/1 – 23./24./25.4.2014 – 18:04:59 – 08:27:53, Fujicolor Crystal Archive on aluminum, acrylic glass, 1/3, 230 x 120 cm

blue, infinity - 2010

blau, unendlich 2018/12 - 2018, 28.07.2010 - 04:05:00 - 20:15:00, Giclée Druck auf Hahnemühle Photo Gloss 260g, auf Aluminium, Acrylglas, 1/3, 120 x 230 cm

blau, unendlich 2018/12 - 2018, 28.07.2010 - 04:05:00 - 20:15:00, Giclée print on Hahnemühle photo gloss 260g, on aluminum, acrylic glass, 1/3, 120 x 230 cm