Ann Veronica Janssens | 27.02.23, 2023

On the occasion of her solo show at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Ann Veronica Janssens has created a limited edition inspired by her Structural Colors series, a new set of works that the artist has been creating since 2022. Each piece—titled as the day in which it was completed—consists of a pane of transparent ribbed glass, on which the artist placed several layers of nanofilms and synthetic melanin to obtain unique nuances of color. The technique employed—which was developed with María Boto Ordóñez, a chemist and scientific researcher at the KASK/School of Arts of University College in Ghent, and which is still being experimented—recreates the natural phenomenon of structural coloring. This event is produced by the refraction of light between specific microstructures that contain melanin pigments. These absorb part of the light waves and generate characteristic iridescent tones like those found in peacock feathers, for example, or in the wings of a butterfly. Just like their counterparts in nature, these works by Ann Veronica Janssens are particularly fragile: direct contact with the surface of the piece causes the delicate micro-layers it is made of to disintegrate, so preserving its uniqueness requires the utmost care.

Since the late 1970s, Ann Veronica Janssens (b. 1956 in Folkestone, UK; lives and works in Brussels) has been questioning our sensory perception of reality. Often using ephemeral, intangible elements such as light, sound, and water, she creates works and situations that disorient the viewer, dissolving our conventional mechanisms of perception. Ann Veronica Janssens’s solo exhibitions have been held in the most prestigious international institutions and she has taken part in important biennials and group exhibitions. In 1999, the artist represented Belgium at the 48th Venice Biennale.