The Belgian ZERO artist Jef Verheyen (1932-1984) became known as the painter of light streams and colour spectra. He experimented not only with light, but also with movement and the invisible as means to evoke natural mechanisms and to reveal universal interrelationships between human beings and the surrounding world. He used geometric principles – his passion for geometry was born out of his interest in mathematics and (Greek) philosophy – as the basis for harmony. Verheyen never gave up on traditional media and materials such as the canvas, paint, and brushes to search for the essence of our nature. 

Günther Uecker

°1930
Born in Wendorf,

On his participation-sheet for Vision in Motion, Uecker calls his works ‘Objecte’. The monochrome white and yellow canvases on panel, and a wooden ball as well, are all provided with rows of nails that produce waves through the play of light and shadow. Their changeable character invites the viewer to alter his/her standpoint too. The contrast between the rough finishing and the optical effects lends his early work an unmistakable charm.

 

Jef Verheyen meets Günther Uecker in 1959.

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