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. 

Lucio Fontana

Collezione Prada, Milano, image: (c) Roberto Marossi, © SABAM Belgium 2018
Concetto Spaziale, Natura, 1982
Collezione Prada, Milano
Sculpture , 50 x 50 cm

With Lucio Fontana there is no longer any question of different disciplines such as painting or sculpture, but rather of an integrated work that fuses elements of the installation (the artwork as a built-up object), the performance (the incision as action) and the environment (the artwork as environmental element). The Concetto Spaziale, Natura shown here is a sphere of terracotta – there are also versions in bronze – with an incision as a lively signal from the artist to bring the inert density of matter into action. 

Text: Hans Willemse
Translations: Michael Meert