When the so-called Heizhaus at the University of Graz was renovated in 1985, Austrian-Italian artist Jorrit Tornquist designed the entrance to the lecture halls as a Temple of Venus, positioned in front of the building and completed in 1988. Around a centrally positioned metal cylinder containing a spotlight is a floor mosaic depicting a fragment of Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, showing Venus’s body up to her navel. The temple’s roof is supported by columns arranged in pairs and painted according to a precise colour scheme that references the original palette of the Heizhaus. For the columns, these colours are further differentiated into lighter and darker shades.
For Tornquist, the essence of his art lies in evoking emotions in the beholder, encouraging them to develop their own emotional intelligence. Colour plays a central role in this process. When working with light, he often introduces elements of shadow and uncertainty. By means of illusion, he brings about a shift in perception, inviting the viewer to analyse what they see and to distinguish between their sensory experience and what is actually there.
The Temple of Venus has a similar effect: The mosaic is reflected in the metal cylinder. Yet, contrary to expectation, the figure is not completed by its own reflection. Instead, Venus seems to emerge from the metal tube, and at the point where one would expect her torso and head to continue, the colourful paired columns appear.
In 2022, the precise colour scheme of the columns was restored, allowing the artwork to again be experienced as it was originally intended.