243 - Cornelius Perino (1958-2025)

Cornelius Perino (1958-2025) "Wechsellicht" 1992 Painting and light installation, 122 cm x 90 cm x 20 cm, various materials, carpet, wood, steel and plastic film, titled, signed and dated ‘92 at the backside; the light objects have small areas of paint flaking off the plastic film in places; the electrical wiring needs replacing. Cornelius Perino: Summer, all year round! Ever since he could remember, he’d wanted to do whatever he pleased. But you’ve also got to be able to do what you want. “Come on, baby, light my fire / Try to set the night on fire”. The Doors’ anthem was his life’s melody. He called himself an image and object constructor, with an openly admitted pyromaniacal inclination. Wherever he went, he brought fire with him, great-great-grandson of Prometheus. His “burning and branding technique” transformed velour carpets into reliefs; the paint then finished them off. Gilding everyday life was his mission from then on, and that worked rather well in Kreuzberg during the wild years. He wanted the freedom to constantly reinvent himself. Every new cosmic inspiration demanded a new style, new materials, new approaches. In his Vulcano Art Factory, the fire was never to go out. “I have to make art to be happy and to stay happy.” The studio was a laboratory, an experimental space and a reception room for all the beautiful, the wild and the terrible people he invited into his life.