Aleksandra Domanović
Aleksandra Domanović
If These Walls Could Talk
The Bezold effect is a recurring feature of artist Aleksandra Domanović’s work. This is an optical illusion that was named after Wilhelm von Bezold, who discovered it while designing rugs. He described how small areas in a certain colour are perceived differently depending on the surrounding colours. Domanović previously explored the effect in enormous prints that were shown in the 2021 exhibition ‘Becoming Another’ in Berlin. In 2024, she applied the effect in the medium in which it was discovered: a woven fabric.
If These Walls Could Talk is composed of acoustic panels covered with woven fabrics made mainly of organic cotton. As cotton can be woven very tightly, it shows off the Bezold effect to great effect. The final panels are layered works that refer to discussions around gender and women’s rights. For example, one of the panels features a portrait of the English doctor Ian Donald, who pioneered the use of ultrasound in obstetrics. Another panel features the words ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ – the title of a French film about a lesbian love story – in the four languages spoken in Domanović’s hometown Novi Sad. The panels were shown in Domanović’s retrospective at the Kunsthalle Vienna in 2024.
Photos by Iris Ranzinger
