Summer Spaces of Perception: The Art of Sali Muller
In the work of Luxembourgish conceptual artist Sali Muller, we encounter a continuation of the aesthetic approach that emerged in the 1960s on the American West Coast under the term “Light and Space”, developing an entirely new artistic language.
This movement arose within a unique cultural and technological climate: In Southern California—shaped by sunlight, expansive landscapes, new materials, and the spirit of the aerospace industry—a group of artists turned away from the narrative and gestural expressions of previous decades.
Californian sunlight
Instead, they placed light itself, space, and perception at the center of their practice. Artists such as Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Doug Wheeler, and Mary Corse experimented with transparent plastics and acrylic glass. They also used reflective surfaces and precisely directed light. These materials had previously belonged more to industrial manufacturing. From them, they created a new form of spatial art that was not meant to be an object, but an experience.
This movement saw itself as a formal-aesthetic innovation. It aimed for a radical reorientation of the relationship between viewer, space, and artwork. One was no longer meant to merely look at a work of art, but to be physically and mentally immersed in it. In this context, California sunlight played a crucial role. It was not just a medium. It was a constitutive element of the artwork itself.
The shifting light conditions throughout the day or across the seasons turned these works into living, breathing entities that eluded reproducibility. This artistic approach reveals its full strength particularly in the summer months. The intense daylight, long shadows, and the warm shimmer of the air all act as natural extensions of the work.
About the Artist:
Sali Muller takes up these principles in her contemporary practice and translates them into a new conceptual framework. For her, too, light is not a mere means to an end—it becomes an active agent. Her installations of mirrors, glass, transparent surfaces, and LED elements create spaces in which the gaze is reflected back upon itself.
Viewers are never merely observers; they are always part of the work—caught in a tension between visibility, reflection, and presence. Through her use of light and transparency, Muller creates a kind of poetic uncertainty. This uncertainty is felt both physically and intellectually.
This experience is heightened in summer: natural light intensifies reflections, refracts more vividly across surfaces, and continually shifts the perception of depth, space, and volume. Where Turrell worked with the sky, Muller works with the human. They explore our bodies in space and our mirrored images. They also consider our position in relation to others. These temporary spaces, filled with light and stillness, acquire a timeless quality that, as in California, focus less on the object and more on the act of perception itself.
From an art historical perspective, Muller’s work demonstrates that the ideals of Light and Space have not lost their relevance. On the contrary, in a present shaped by digital imagery and constant visual stimuli, her art calls for attentive perception.
She reminds us that space is not only physical. It is also psychological. Light can be more than illumination. It can become a vehicle for insight. In this way, Sali Muller continues one of the most poetic movements of postwar art—bringing it into the present with quiet precision.
G-ALLERY · Walter-Benjamin-Platz 1 · Berlin 10629 · Germany · g-allery.com
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