Lily Greenham’s (b. 1924, Vienna – d. 2001, London) diverse and experimental œuvre includes sound poetry and lingual music, alongside her works of op, kinetic and computer art. Her radical and restless shifts between media, language as well as places stands in close connection to her biography: Born to parents of Polish/Ukranian-Jewish descent, the family fled from Vienna to Copenhagen in 1938 due to the increasingly dangerous political situation. She returned to Vienna in 1952 to study at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Shortly after she became involved with the Wiener Gruppe, focusing her work on radio broadcasts and performances of sound and concrete poetry.
After participating in seminars on computer language in 1969 and 1970, Greenham acquired a personal computer in 1982, using it to produce a body of work. She employed a variety of techniques, including programming algorithms and collaging and combining computer graphics on the photocopier. The Homecomputer Graphics (1982) on view here are accompanied by some of her preparatory material (presented in a vitrine). Through the shifting geometric patterns in her collages she negotiates principles of movement and change – aspects consistently featured in her artistic practice.