Otto Piene is a German post-war artist. Together with Heinz Mack, he is the founder of the ZERO movement.

ZERO refers to the countdown to the launch of a rocket symbolizes a new beginning. In 1962 Piene, together with Heinz Mack and Günther Uecker created a 'light room' in the exhibition 'Nul' in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, which cooperated Henk Peeters, Armando, Jan Henderikse and Jan Schoonhoven.

The use of carbon black on a cloth or paper was one of the signature techniques of the artist. Piene is also founder of the "Happening" in which a moment or event can be seen as art. He organized so-called sky-art projects and light ballets, where searchlights, arc lamps, soap bubbles, and aluminum foil balloons were used as ingredients.

Otto Piene lived and worked in Düsseldorf, Cambridge and Groton, Massachusetts.