Jorrit Tornquist

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Jorrit Tornquist in 2001

Jorrit Tornquist (Graz, 26 March 1938) is an artist, a color consultant as well as color theorist. Originally he is Austrian; since 1992 he has obtained Italian citizenship.

His artworks are present in numerous art collections. In addition, he has got worldwide recognition through his coloring projects applied to huge architectural complexes.

Biography

Born in Graz on 26 March 1938. Among his forefathers are artists and intellectuals of high caliber, such as Eduard Robert Henze  (1827-1906), painter and sculptor of, among others, the statue titled “La Fama” (“The Fame”), located atop the Dresden Cathedral, and Alexander Tornquist (1868 -1944), geologist of international renown.

Initially Tornquist studies biology. In 1958, at the Polytechnic University in Graz, he decides to take up architecture. Under the guidance of Prof. Winkler, he engages in both sculpting and painting, basically figurative.

Since 1959 he has given himself to an in-depth study of color principles and color effects, and contemporarily launched his artistic career.

He also shows great interest in the political and artistic movements that promote social transformation; on refusing to carry out military service, he decides to move to Italy. Thanks to Getulio Alviani’s help, he establishes himself in Sesto san Giovanni.

In 1966 he stages his first one-man show at the Vismara Gallery in Milan.

In the same year he takes part in the Forum Stadtpark in Graz. In 1967, together with Richard Kriesche and Helga Philipp, Tornquist signs the founding manifesto of the “Gruppo Austria”, which aims to propel the Austrian culture towards new artistic languages.

Successively he sets up the Team Color group (1972), becomes member of the Color Center of Tokyo (1974), actively participates in the Surya group (1977), theorized by the critic Enzo Biffi Gentili.

In parallel to his artistic practices, he starts his career as color consultant with a project for the Caffetteria dello Studente in Graz (1966, in collaboration with Arch. Jorg Mayr), then gradually he arrives to handle important architectural sites, among which stands out the incineration plant in Brescia (1996).

In 1987 Jorrit Tornquist creates a performance titled “Apartheid” in Graz, his native town, with the intention to raise public awareness towards all living forms.

In 1992 he obtains Italian citizenship, though maintaining his Austrian one throughout.

In 1995 he builds up the Color & Surface group: Barcelona-Milano-Wien, that undertakes chromatic interventions for public and private projects.

Artist

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A Tornquist artwork, 1961

Mystic Period

His painting experiments, at first, take cues from post-Cubism, in particular, from Feininger’s art; since the 1960s, Tornquist has given himself to an artistic practice grounded on a deeper and more systematic study of colors.

The theory of colors championed by Rudolf Steiner, founder of Anthroposophy, whose influence proves to be decisive for a great number of artists of the 20^th century (from Klee to Kandinskij, to Mondrian) has led Jorrit Tornquist to get enamored with the Eastern theories.

Over a brief period, he examines the world of symbols, seeking to penetrate the unconscious structure of the psyche by adopting a variety of materials.

“I tried to set the mystical-symbolical content against the reality inherent in the used materials. The materials ranged from rusty and shining iron to tar, concrete, mirror, etc…, the configurations of their forms should have been associated to doors, organism, sources, etc."

Successively, considering the fact that light is the sum of all colors (the seven colors of Newton), which ultimately results in white, Tornquist elaborates a sequence of colors (chromatic circle), repeatedly applied to the canvas surface. In so doing, he attempts to convey to the viewer a sensation of balance and harmony, similar to that emanated by the buddhist mandala.

He further employs this chromatic circle to create sculptures inspired by the Endless Column of Costantin Brancusi. (pus 111, Opus 171)

He finally conceives a tridimensional structure, conferring a precise function to diverse colors:

"colors can no longer be regarded as light, but as a force directed to generating a mood, all colors united in a dynamic balance, like a balance that needs to orient itself(…). The lattice was considered as a frame, where emotions produced tension…"

Scientific-Skeptic period

At this point he abandons the “mystical” phase of his research and focuses on the study of the intrinsic properties of colors and their capacity to affect our mood.

He draws the conclusion that the world we know is constantly exposed to adjustments, to diverse interpretations, so much so that it’s impossible to define a final truth, which, more or less, refers to our endless endeavors to adapt ourselves to the environment.

Therefore the world itself wouldn’t be seizable.

From that moment, Tornquist seeks to express this very idea through his art, trying to

“incorporate perceptual phenomena like light, shadow, aerial perspectives, mist, etc. into his work.”

Spazio-nebbia

Case in point, in “Spazio Nebbia” in 1973, Tornquist puts, in a box, a series of beams of colors progressively degrading towards duller tones.

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Spazio-Nebbia

He executes an interesting work, inspired by the Four Seasons, which consists of four paintings, accompanied by an explanatory text.

Winter: silence/cold/snow, ice; celestial cirrus

Spring: soft ground/sprouting plants/first blossom/ murmur of water/flute sounds

Summer: vibration of the air/hum of bees/midday/fields of ripe wheat/sunflower/the perfume of hay/chirping of cicadas/splendor/warmth, feast, high season/ marching band.

Autumn: weariness/hard ground/chrysanthemum/frost/fog/oboe.

Afterwards, in a series of work titled “Miscuglio”(mixture), he proceeds with a rigorous definition of base colors to obtain a preset stimulus through their combination.

He also incorporates words into the painting in such a way as to let the shape of the written characters and the chosen colors elicit at once the stimulus evoked by the word itself.

He further explores the expressive capacity of the components of painting, such as frame, canvas, the materiality of colors.

Leaving a part of the canvas frame uncovered, he continues to paint on the transparent part of the canvas.

At strategic points on the canvas he creates creases and tries to reproduce the incidence of light; then he adopts materials such as papier-maché or plaster to highlight the materiality through his understanding of light and shade.

To Tornquist, it’s fundamental to meditate on the German word “wahr-nehmen”, translated in italian as “perceive”; whereas in German, it can be translated word-by-word as “take it as true”; since our perceptions are always conditioned by the environment, which can sometimes lead us to commit serious errors of valuation, Tornquist puts a question mark between the two words: wahr?nehmen, as did Helmholtz in '800.

Though he is in connection with the exponents of Kinetic art, represented above all in the N group of Padua and the T group of Milan, Tornquist doesn’t want to be identified with them; in fact as artist, he is averse to letting himself dominated by an automatic and repeated idea; he prefers to give priority to his personal dimension, fruit of an individual vision, that recalls an ever present spiritual dimension; it’s not by chance that he is a member the Surya group, that aimed to bring forth the spiritual connotations through abstract art.

"Colors communicate emotions directly through sensory perception, without the necessity to resort to consciousness. Colors affect our mood, thus our biological status."

Color consultant

Following his thorough study in architecture and in colors, Tornquist is often invited by Public and Private Entities to take part in chromatic projects to incorporate buildings and architectural structures into urban and rural landscapes. Colors play a fundamental part in both increasing the functional and cultural values of the projects and in improving their social missions.

His most significant projects are cited below in chronological order:

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Coffee bar after Tornquist work, 1966

• 1966 Coffee bar of the Casa dello Studente; furniture: Arch. Jorg Mayr, Graz, Austria. Inspired by the reflected lights of Gothic cathedrals, the sum of which results achromatic, Tornquist applies to the ceiling the lamellae made of polystyrene in four colors: two primary (yellow and red) and two complementary (green and purple) that interact among themselves. Our shift in position can create diverse sensations. Furniture is displayed with the same colors.

• 1977 Project for the chef school. In collaboration with Arch. W. Lessnik. Aigen im Ennstal, Austria. Aigen im Ennstal is a vacation destination in the Stiria region at an altitude of 600 meters. Therefore it’s enshrouded in snow during most part of the year. In the selection of colors for the chef school, he even takes into consideration the colors of the plants: deciduous trees ( trees losing leaves during winter) planted in front of white walls and evergreens planted in front of the green areas (with a darker green tone to imitate the shadow of the plants) or areas having natural wood color. The roof is covered with grass.
• 1980 Public housing, Grugliasco, Turin. In collaboration with Arch. Strobino, studio A.I. It deals with a seven building complex, to which are applied the colors of the chromatic circle: more subdued tones for the interior walls to enhance a sense of spaciousness and darker tones for the exterior to arouse a sensation of solidity.
• 1980 Public housing, Rivalta, Turin In this case he works with blue, red, and yellow as primary colors, which assume lighter tones for the upper parts of the buildings so that they can blend in with the sky colors.
• 1986 Plabutschtunnel. Building, pumps and chimney ventilation. Graz, Austria This type of structure usually embraces the grey color of cement that has an unpleasant impact on the surrounding space. Tornquist, on the contrary, uses a sequence of colors disposed in the lozenge form to generate harmony to the scenery.
• 1996 Jakominiplatz, Graz, Austria, in collaboration with Arch. S. and J. Mayr, H. Fiedler. Jakominiplatz is a square for multi-articulation tramways of the city. Thus it’s a transition place; for this reason, each of the lighting poles has five bracket arms with yellow-colored lights to remind people not only to act, but also to give constant attention to eventual dangers; whereas neutral colors are used for the bus shelters so that they can match with the grey color of the roads.
• 1996 New incineration plant, Azienda Servizi Municipalizzati ASM, Brescia, in collaboration with Studio Tecne and Arch. Gozzoli. This project, seen along the Turin – Venice motorway, has arguably marked the apex of his career. The challenge was to transform the building block, used for waste incineration destined to district heating, into a volume that, though making clear its function, can blend itself harmoniously in the surrounding landscape. After a close inspection of the atmosphere of the Po Valley, Tornquist decides to adopt a variation of light grey blue as the dominant color; the view from the south, instead, is connected with vegetation, so he gives priority to green. To quote the artist’s words, this project is conceived “ in the viewpoint of a more human post-industrialism. In this sense we can talk about meaning, even about beauty, when dealing with industrial structures. All that is productive can also be attractive.”
• 2002 Kindergarten. Azienda Servizi Municipalizzati, ASM, Brescia
• 2002 Thermal Power Station of Mincio ASM – AGSM Pozzolengo, Brescia. The power plant, dating back to 1960, needs to undergo a transformation: first of all, some buildings are planned to be torn down and some others to be put up. Notably the chimney stack is placed side by side with a 80m high chimney, whose coloration varies from the color red at the bottom to light colors upwards so that they can blend in with the sky. In this way, the chimney assumes a sculptural aspect that “sets itself against the beauty of the park, thus adding more value to it”.
• 2002 Gruppo IVAS, paint industry, San Mauro Pascoli, Forlì. It is a complex of various buildings without any architectural coherence; he prefers to give them a neutral coloration; he focuses on some architectural elements, located at strategically visual points, for signaling.
• 2004 San Rocco Purifier, Milan, in collaboration with Quattroassociati Studio. Situated in the Rural Park South Milan, characterized therefore by an immense green space, it is recognizable by a long protective wall realized in the form of “waves”, through the use of metal colored panels in blue shades. This motif serves to playfully allude to its functioning.

Bibliography

• J. Tornquist, Colore e luce, Ikon Editrice, Milano, 1999.
• AA.VV., Jorrit Tornquist. Color-works, Stile Editore, Brescia, 2006.