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.
● 1932 ● Born on 6 July as Jozef Verheyen in the Kempen village of Itegem (BE). Is the eldest in a family of twelve children. Moves to Nijlen (BE) at a young age. Father Jozef Bernard Verheyen is a house painter and mother Maria Paulina van Hove runs a paint shop ● As a child, Jef suffers from poor vision due to an eye problem
● 1945–1946 ● Nurtures the ambition to become an artist painter instead of a house painter ● Takes evening classes at the Lier academy with the painter Frans Ros, known for his church interiors and his nickname “the light seeker”. Wins first prize with his still life and lays the foundation for his artistic career
● 1946–1952 ● Starts with meagre financial resources at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, then led by Constant Permeke. Takes figure drawing lessons with Ernest Albert and Victor Dolphyn. Learns to paint from still life and models with Albert De Roover, Gustaaf De Bruyne and Antoon Marstboom, as well as sculpting, etching and stained glass painting ● Lives and works on Kattenstraat (Antwerp, BE)
● 1952 ● Campaigns for the establishment of a ceramics class and becomes one of Olivier Strebelle’s first students, together with Lutgart De Meyer, Jan Dries and Dani Franque (artist name for Danielle Francq), who from that point on is his life partner ● Travels to Spain hitchhiking ● Passes the entrance exam at the National Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Takes lessons in decorative and monumental arts with Julien Van Vlasselaer, known for his tapestry art
● 1953 ● Travels to Vallauris (FR), where he and Franque work in the ceramic workshops for three months. Jean Rivier, Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso are also all working here. Joins in the annual group exhibition ● Helps with the wine harvest in Provence, hitchhikes to Spain and Paris ● Becomes acquainted with the work of Lucio Fontana and Constantin Brancusi at the second biennial of sculpture in the Middelheim Park (Antwerp, BE) ● Moves his studio to Sint-Antoniusstraat (Antwerp, BE) ● Writer Michel Oukhow is the first collector of his work ● Maintains good contacts with Paul Bervoets and Lode Jacobs
● 1954 ● Exhibits in Gard Sivik, a gathering place for experimental literature and music at the Stadswaag (Antwerp, BE) ● Moves with Franque to what is then Rubensstraat 14 (now: Wapper, Antwerp, BE)
● 1955 ● Opens a ceramics studio and shop opposite the Rubens House together with Franque: Atelier 14. Ceramists Marina Van Acker, Blanca Olmedo and Wim (Wannes) Van de Velde are also regulars at the studio. Lives with Franque on the top floor ● Travels to Paris. He and Franque often visit the Musée Guimet, the national museum for Asian art ● Meets the writer Ivo Michiels
● 1956 ● Becomes an editor of the innovative magazine Het Kahier, together with Jan Dries, Jan Christiaens, Adriaan de Roover and Ben Klein (François De Wispelaere) ● Hitchhikes to Paris, Bordeaux, Madrid in September ● Meets the Parisian gallerist Iris Clert ● Exhibits his ceramics together with Franque in Ghent, Antwerp and Liège ● Starts painting again and exhibits in the Deutsche Buchgemeinschaft (Antwerp, BE)
● 1957 ● Discovers the theories of Paul Klee, including Das bildnerische Denken and das räumliche innen und außen ● Reads the treatises of pre-Socratic philosophers such as Heraclitus ● Travels to Milan for the first time in September by hitchhiking ● Participates in the fourth biennial of sculpture in the Middelheim Park. Meets Jozef Peeters and Gianni Dova ● Exhibits in Galerie Accent (Antwerp, BE) ● Participates in Interbau (Berlin, DE) and Moderne Sociale Meubelkunst in the Museum voor Sierkunst (Ghent, BE) ● Participates in the G58 opening exhibition at the Hessenhuis (Antwerp, BE). Shows the painting L’air est plein de ta chaleur, of which Fontana becomes the owner
● 1958 ● Travels to Basel and then to Milan ● Exhibits for the first time at Galleria Pater (Milan, IT). At the opening, meets Roberto Crippa and Lucio Fontana, who buys a painting. Visits Fontana’s studio ● On the way back from Milan, visits Yves Klein’s Le Vide exhibition in Galerie Iris Clert (Paris, FR) ● Contributes together with Wim Van Gils to Expo 58 in Brussels, in particular the design of the press pavilion ● With Van Gils designs a ceiling painting for the hospital in Stavelot ● Co-founds Group 58 (G58) in the Middelheim Castle. Participates in the fifth G58 exhibition with Walter Vanermen, Vic Estercam and Paul (Pol) Bervoets ● Meets the poet Guy Vaes ● Exhibits for the second time in Galleria Pater. Meets Piero Manzoni ● Writes his first manifesto Essentialisme in Milan ● Takes the initiative, together with Bert De Leeuw, Guy Vandenbranden and Paul Van Hoeydonck, to open a gallery above his ceramics studio in Antwerp. The project is aborted ● Is one of the laureates of the Prix de la jeune Peinture
● 1959 ● Works in Milan and stays with Roberto Crippa and Edoardo Franceschini. Visits the studios of Gianni Dova, Antonio Recalcati and Lucio Fontana. Meets Enrico Baj, Sergio Dangelo, Wifredo Lam, Renato Birolli ● Plans an exhibition in Antwerp, Le Mouvement Stable, with Piero Manzoni, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Jean Tinguely, Enrico Castellani, Agostino Bonalumi, Guy Vandenbranden and Jozef Peeters. The project becomes overshadowed by tensions and is cancelled ● Vision in Motion / Motion in Vision takes place at the Hessenhuis. Like Fontana and Manzoni, he does not participate. Meets Günther Uecker ● Essentialisme is first published by the Swiss Georges J. Kasper (Galerie Kasper) in the French-language magazine Art Actuel. Het Kahier publishes the Dutch text and is distributed in Milan ● Rents the Tempeliershof, an empty farm on the Scheldt (Weert, BE) together with Guy Mees, to paint and write together. Completes his cahier Pour une peinture non plastique ● Travels with Manzoni from Milan to the artists’ village of Albisola Mare (IT). They stay there with Fontana, Michiels and Pol Bury ● Gets to know the poet and critic Paul De Vree ● Moves his studio to Lange Noordstraat 1 (Antwerp, BE) ● Invites Crippa and Franceschini to Belgium. They both exhibit here ● Breaks away from G58 ● Meets the Swiss Hans Liechti from Galerie Bernard (Grenchen, CH) in Milan. Brings him into contact with, among others, Wout Vercammen, Wim Van de Velde, Bram Bogart. Liechti introduces him to other Swiss gallerists ● Founds the Nieuwe Vlaamse School (New Flemish School) together with Englebert Van Anderlecht, Paul De Vree and a dozen artists who left G58 ● Exhibits at ‘t Venster (Rotterdam, NL) and at Enzo Pagani, Galleria d’arte del Grattacielo (Legnano, IT) ● Participates in the Prijs van de Kritiek, Hessenhuis ● Introduces the work of colleagues such as Guy Vandenbranden, Mark Verstockt, Walter Leblanc, Paul Van Hoeydonck, Piet Teraa, Camiel Van Breedam and Jozef Peeters in Galleria Pater and Galleria del Grattacielo
●1960 ● Self-publishes Pour une peinture non plastique with texts by Paul Cézanne, Henry Miller, Lao Zi, Plato and Paul van Ostaijen, among others, in a layout by Wout Vercammen ● Works with Englebert Van Anderlecht on a series of paintings entitled L’un et l’autre – Ni l’un ni l’autre , some with text by Jean Dypréau, Vaes or Michiels ● Travels to the Italian island of Panarea ● Visits Günther Uecker (Düsseldorf, DE), Hermann Goepfert and Rochus Kowallek (Frankfurt am Main, DE) ● Organises Nuove tendenze degli artisti belgi. Giovani pittori belgi, Galleria del Grattacielo. Alongside Verheyen, Guy Mees, Dan Van Severen, Jan Dries, Vic Gentils and Englebert Van Anderlecht are also participating. ● Exhibits with Peintures monochromes in Galerie Bernard ● Exhibits in Galerie Smith (Brussels, BE) ● Participates in Nieuwe Vlaamse School, C.A.W. (Antwerp, BE) ● Is the only Belgian selected for the Prix suisse de la peinture abstraite, Galerie Kasper (Lausanne, CH) ● Participates in Scheppend ambacht in Vlaanderen, Museum Sterckshof (Deurne, BE) ● Participates in Udo Kultermann’s exhibition, Monochrome Malerei, Museum Morsbroich (Leverkusen, DE). Besides Verheyen, Mark Rothko, Willi Baumeister, Walter Leblanc, Yves Klein, Enrico Castellani, Piero Dorazio, Raimund Girke, Piero Manzoni, Lucio Fontana, Francesco Lo Savio, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Günther Uecker, Paul Van Hoeydonck, Mark Verstockt and Yayoi Kusama are in this exhibition ● Participates in the Eerste Experimentele Poëzietentoonstelling at the Hessenhuis. His monochrome paintings incorporate poems by Ben Klein and Adriaan de Roover, among others
● 1961 ● Exhibits with Ad Reinhardt and Francesco Lo Savio at Museum Morsbroich ● Participates in the Biennale des Jeunes (Paris, FR) ● Presents Peintures essentialles, Galerie Bernard ● Participates in Les 41 présentent Iris Clert at Galerie Iris Clert. Arman, Takis, Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, Robert Rauschenberg and Ad Reinhardt, among others, also present a “Portrait of Iris Clert” ● Joins Georges J. Kasper’s initiative Nouvelle école européenne. Participates in the Nieuwe Europese School, Hessenhuis ● Participates with the New Flemish School in Forum 61, a project by Karel Geirlandt and Paul De Vree at the former Sint-Pietersabdij (Ghent, BE) ● The New Flemish School exhibits in Galerie Le Zodiaque (Brussels, BE) and in the VECU, a private club where the Pink Poets later established themselves (Antwerp, BE) ● Participates in Expressions actuelles in Galerie Kasper (Lausanne, CH) ● Moves his studio to Charlottalei 3 in May and in November to Raapstraat 6 (Antwerp, BE)
● 1962 ● Works with Lucio Fontana on Rêve de Möbius and Le Jour, the centrepiece of a triptych. Fontana and Verheyen are filmed by national television and interviewed by Karel Geirlandt at the home of collector Louis Bogaerts (Knokke, BE). A third collaboration emerged the following year with Hermann Goepfert ● Works with Günther Uecker at Schaliënstraat 2 (Antwerp, BE) ● Exhibits with Essentialisme = 0 + 1 at John and Jacqueline Trouillard, Galerie Ad Libitum (Antwerp, BE) ● Becomes the driving force of the international network around ZERO in Antwerp ● Exhibits with ZERO during Forum 62 (Ghent, BE) ● Participates in Nul, Stedelijk (Amsterdam, NL) ● Participates in the ZERO exhibitions in Galerie Ad Libitum, Galerie OREZ (Amsterdam, NL) and Galerie Schindler (Bern, CH) ● Participates in the book project Das Große Buch together with, among others, Christo, Oskar Holweck, Almir Mavignier, Martial Raysse, Dieter Roth, Jesús Rafael Soto, Jean Tinguely
● 1963 ● Reprints Essentialisme in Paul De Vree’s neo-avantgarde magazine, De Tafelronde ● Works with Hermann Goepfert in Frankfurt ● Exhibits with Quadrate & Farbteste in Galerie Bernard (Solothurn, CH) ● Exhibits with De 4 Elementen in Galerie Ad Libitum ● Participates in Europäische Avantgarde in Galerie d / Schwanenhalle des Römers (Frankfurt am Main, DE) ● Participates in Profile II. Belgische Kunst heute, Städtische Kunstgalerie (Bochum, DE) ● Participates in the ZERO exhibitions in Haus am Waldsee and Galerie Diogenes (Berlin, DE) ● Participates in Michel Seuphor’s De abstracte schilderkunst in Vlaanderen at the Hessenhuis
● 1964 ● Creates the experimental film Essentieel, together with Paul De Vree, Jos Pustjens, Jan Bruyndonckx and Julien Schoenaerts. The film is presented in Frankfurt ● Organises Integratie 64 with Renaat Braem and Paul De Vree. The project takes place in Antwerp and Frankfurt and focuses on the synthesis between art, architecture and technology. In addition to a collaboration between Braem and Verheyen, the exhibition includes work by Victor Vasarely, Yves Klein, Günther Uecker, Hermann Goepfert, Lucio Fontana and Christian Megert, and more ● Designs murals for a gymnasium and a hospital on behalf of architects Sebastian Paquet and Hans Jochen Kirchberg and a primary school in Frankfurt ● Exhibits with Zonnebogen in Galerie Aujourd’hui (Brussels, BE), in Galerie Bernard, Galerie Beno (Zürich, CH) and Galerie Niklaus Knöll (Basel, CH) ● Participates in ZERO exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Pennsylvania, US) and at the New Vision Centre (London, GBR) ● Participates in the 1964 Pittsburgh International, Carnegie Institute (Pittsburgh, US)
● 1965 ● Participates in Klein – Rotraut – Uecker – Verheyen in Théâtre des Plans (Brussels, BE) ● Exhibits in Galerie Paul Facchetti (Paris, FR) ● Participates in the travelling exhibition Lucio Fontana – Hermann Goepfert – Jef Verheyen in Galerie situationen 60 (Berlin, DE) and Galerie Loehr (Nieder-Ursel, DE) ● Participates in Nanda Vigo’s travelling exhibition ZERO avantgarde at Fontana’s studio (Milan, IT), Galleria del Cavallino (Venice, IT), Galleria Il Punto (Turin, IT), Galleria Il Segno (Rome, IT) and Associazione Zen (Brescia, IT) ● Participates in Nouvelles recherches flamandes, Musée Rath (Geneva, CH) together with, among others, Vic Gentils, Guy Mees, Roger Raveel and Wout Vercammen ● Stays with Hermann Goepfert in Frankfurt ● Participates in Weiss – Weiss, Galerie Schmela (Düsseldorf, DE) ● Participates in ZERO exhibitions at Galerie Aktuell of Christian Megert (Bern, CH) and at the Gallery of Modern Art (Washington, US) ● Participates in Abstracte kunst in Vlaanderen, Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, NL) ● Participates in Collection Fernand Graindorge, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk, DNK) alongside work by Jean Arp, Jean Metzinger, ELT Mesens, Anna-Eva Bergman, Picasso, María Blanchard, Auguste Herbin, Luc Peire ● Participates in Flamlandske Abstrakten, Svenska Handelsbanken (Stockholm, SE)
● 1966 ● Moves studio to Hoogstraat 69 (Antwerp, BE), and works there until his move to France ● Exhibits at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels, BE). Receives the Prize for Best Exhibition, awarded by the association of art critics (AICA) ● Exhibits in ‘t Kasteelke (Mullem, BE) ● Participates in Goepfert, Luther, Megert, Uecker, Verheyen, Galerie Accent (Brussels, BE) ● Participates in Pop/Op, Galerie d / Galerie am Dom (Frankfurt am Main, DE) ● Participates in De acht uit Antwerp, de Doelen (Rotterdam, NL) ● Participates in the Triënnale der Zuidelijke Nederlanden 1, Van Abbemuseum, Museum for Fine Arts (Ghent, BE), CC De Beyerd (Breda, NL) ● Participates in Harald Szeemanns Weiss auf Weiss, Kunsthalle Bern (CH) together with, among others, Yaacov Agam, Josef Albers, Jean Arp, Max Bill, Antonio Calderara, Gianni Colombo, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Julio Le Parc, François Morellet, Kazimir Malevich, Ben Nicholson, Claes Oldenburg, Sophie Taeuber-Arp
● 1967 ● Organises the open-air exhibition Vlaamse Landschappen in Mullem, Flanders, together with Günther Uecker. With their in situ intercessions in the landscape, this was a land art project avant la lettre. The vernissage was a midnight event with torches. ● First meeting with the gallerist Marcel Stal. Presents Lichtkathedralen (Cathedrals of Light ) at Galerie Carrefour (Brussels, BE) ● Visits Lucio and Teresita Fontana in Comabbio (IT) ● Has been selected for the Belgian participation in the São Paulo Biennale (BR), together with Dan Van Severen, Vic Gentils, Félix Roulin and Serge Vandercam ● Travels through Brazil and Mexico, becomes fascinated by South America. Next travels to New York ● Participates in Karel Geirlandt’s Objart in Huis Wapenschild (Antwerp, BE) ● Participates in 45 ans d’art contemporain belge, Sala Dalles (Bucharest, ROU) ● Participates in Zauber des Lichtes, Städtische Kunsthalle (Recklinghausen, DE) ● Helps Fontana with the preparations of the environments for his major solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
● 1968 ● Travels to Andalusia with Franque and their three children. They stay in the fishing village of La Rabita (ES) ● Exhibits Panchromatische Objekte, Galerie Ursula Lichter (Frankfurt am Main, DE) ● Exhibits at J. Walther Thompson Company (Brussels, BE) ● Participates in Kontrasten 1947–1967, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, KMSKA (Antwerp, BE) ● Participates in Public Eye, Kunsthaus Hamburg (DE) ● Participates in 45 Years of Modern Belgian Art, Kunsthal Budapest (HU) ● Participates in the Eerste Triënnale, Brugse Stadshallen (Bruges, BE) ● Participates in the exhibition of Enrico Crispolti, Alternative Attuali 3, Castello Spagnolo (L’Aquila, IT) ● Participates in the Triennale India (New Delhi, IN)
● 1969 ● Meets German collectors Gerhard and Anna Lenz, who will eventually bring together one of the largest ZERO collections. The work Groot Violet marks the start of their collection ● Exhibits with Farbsinn, Belgische Haus (Cologne, DE) ● Participates in Hommage à Fontana, Von der Heydt-Museum (Wuppertal, DE) ● Participates in the Biennale Nürnberg, Kunsthalle Nürnberg (DE) ● Participates in ZERO exhibitions at Galerie Ursula Lichter (Frankfurt am Main, DE) and Galerie Isy Brachot (Brussels, BE) ● Participates in L’Art Belgique Moderne, National Gallery (Prague, CZ) ● Participates in Contemporary Belgian Art, Slovak National Gallery (Bratislava, SK) ● Participates in Art Belge Contemporain, Sursock Museum (Beirut, LB) ● Participates in Terre des hommes (Montreal, CA) ● Participates in 4 Italianen in België. 4 Belgen in Italië, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Belgium, KMSKB (Brussels, BE) µ
● 1970 ● Selected for the Belgian pavilion at the biennial of Venice, together with Jean-Michel Folon, Jean-Paul Laenen, Bram Bogart, Walter Leblanc, Georges Collignon, Dan Van Severen ● Exhibits with Panchromies, Galerie Iris Clert ● Presents Sonnenbogen, Galerie Bernard (Solothurn, CH) ● Creates the designs for the new Ringtheater in Antwerp, an initiative of Julien Schoenaerts ● Participates in Belgische Kunst 1960–70, Kölnischer Kunstverein (Cologne, DE) ● Participates in Umwelt-Akzente, Kunstkreis (Monschau, DE) ● Participates in Iris Clert in Antwerpen. Individualisten, Galerie De Zwarte Panter (Antwerp, BE)
● 1971 ● Exhibits at Galerie Annemarie Verna (Zürich, CH), Galerie Müller (Cologne, DE) and Casino Knokke (BE) ● Participates in the Tweede Triënnale, Brugse Stadshallen (Bruges, BE) ● Participates in 25 años de arte belga, Museo de Arte Moderno (Mexico City, MX) ● Travels to Düsseldorf (Günther Uecker), Frankfurt (Hermann Goepfert), Munich, Tyrol (Gerard and Anna Lenz), Schwäbisch Gmünd (Edith Wahlandt) and Switzerland (Hans and Käthi Liechti)
● 1972 ● Exhibits at the Palais des Beaux-Arts and Galerie Carrefour (Brussels, BE) and at Multi-Art Gallery (Antwerp, BE) ● Works on a multiple book Jef Verheyen 40 on the occasion of his birthday, together with Paul Ibou (design), Frank Philippi (photos) and Ivo Michiels (text). They are in the running for the UNESCO prize for the most beautiful art book ● Participates in Otto Piene. Lichtballett und Künstler der Gruppe ZERO, Galerie Heseler (Munich, DE)
● 1973 ● Presents Kreislauf der Farben in Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf (DE). Uecker introduces him to Gerhard Richter ● Exhibits in Muzeum Sztuki (Łódź, POL) ● Participates in the exhibition of Gerhard Storck, ZERO-Raum, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf (DE) ● Exhibits in Galerie Argelander (Bonn, DE) ● Travels through North Africa, such as Nefta (TN) ● Exhibiting in Estro Armonico (Tabarka, TN)
● 1974 ● Moves with his family to the French village of Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt in Provence in July. Horse riding is an important part of his life ● Close contacts with the art dealer Axel Vervoordt. Exhibits with Provence in de Vlaeykensgang (Antwerp, BE) ● Exhibits in Galerie Carrefour (Brussels, BE) ● Participates in Collection Hans Liechti, Musée d’art et d’histoire de Neuchâtel (CH) ● Participates in Miroirs de l’irrationnel, Le Grand-Hornu (Boussu, BE) ● Participates in Colorfield Painters, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (DE)
● 1975 ● Exhibits with Lux est Lex at Abbaye Saint-Michel de Frigolet (Tarascon, FR), at the same time as Kim Tschang-yeul. The exhibition was made possible by Antonino Giglio and Jacques Von Hoerde of The Antwerp Gallery. The Antwerp Cathedral Choir performed on the opening ● Exhibits at Galerie Media (Neuchâtel, CH) ● Participates in Aspects de l’Art Abstrait en Belgique 1945–1975, Galerie Yahia (Tunis, TN)
● 1976 ● At the invitation of Herbert Distel, makes a contribution to his Schubladenmuseum. This Museum of Drawers is exhibited at the International Cultural Centre, ICC (Antwerp, BE) and Kunsthaus Zürich (CH) ● Exhibits at Galerie Carrefour (Brussels, BE) and Gallery New Selection (Knokke, BE) ● Participates in Van Antes tot Wunderlich, Stichting Veranneman (Kruishoutem, BE)
● 1977 ● Travels to Venice and Carrara, where he collaborates with sculptor and photographer Dominique Stroobant ● Travels often to Belgium. Lives and works alternately in his studio in Kasteel Ten Bos (Heist-op-den-Berg, BE) and in Provence ● Exhibits with Nachten in The Antwerp Gallery (Antwerp, BE) ● Participates in Rosc ‘77. The Poetry of Vision (Dublin, IE)
● 1978 ● Exhibits with Concorde at Galerie Hans Strelow (Düsseldorf, DE) ● Participates in Stiftung Anne-Marie und Victor Loeb, Kunsthalle Bern (CH) ● Participates in the Dixième Biennale Internationale d’Art de Menton, Palais de l’Europe (Menton, FR) ● Participates in Van Ensor tot heden, KMSKB (Brussels, BE) ● Participates in Collectie Hans & Käthi Liechti, Provinciaal Hof (Bruges, BE)
● 1979 ● Receives a retrospective at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels, BE). This travels to the Musée Rath (Geneva, CH) ● Participates in the first ZERO retrospective, Kunsthaus Zürich (CH) ● Co-organises ZERO Internationaal Antwerpen, KMSKA (Antwerp, BE). The exhibition highlights Antwerp’s catalytic role as an art city abroad ● Exhibits in Galerie Edith Wahlandt (Schwäbisch Gmünd, DE)
● 1980 ● Participates in Belgique – Pays-Bas. Convergences et parallèles dans l’art depuis 1945, Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels, BE) / Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam, NL)
● 1981 ● Publishes the Millennium Éclair edition, a collaboration with poet Guy Vaes and designer Frank Maes. The book presentation takes place on the island of Torcello in Venice (IT) ● Creates Grand Oeuvre, a multiple with lithographs by Verheyen and texts by Michiels, in Sankt Gallen (CH). They engrave directly on stone ● Presents Neun Bilder zu einem neuen Thema, Galerie Edith Wahlandt (Schwäbisch Gmünd, DE) ● Participates in the exhibition of Willy Van den Bussche, Kunst in/als Vraag: Negatie–Integratie, van Dada tot Heden in België, Provinciaal Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Lakenhalle (Ypres, BE) ● Participates in Naar en in het landschap, ICC (Antwerp, BE)
● 1982 ● Meets Friedrich Dürrenmatt through Hans Liechti who writes foreword for Megaron in Galerie Erker (Sankt Gallen, CH) ● Exhibits at Janssen Pharmaceutica (Beerse, BE). Maintains good contacts with Jos Macken and Paul and Dora Janssen ● Participates in Phoenix, Alte Oper (Frankfurt am Main, DE) ● Participates in Picturale opties ‘50–’70 at the ICC ● Participates in the Biënnale van de Kritiek, Palais des Beaux-Arts (Charleroi, BE) / International Cultural Centre, ICC
● 1983 ● Travels to Romania with Günther Uecker, Gerhard Lenz and Karl Prantl to visit the birthplace and works of Constantin Brancusi ● Exhibits at Galerie Bernard (Grenchen, CH) and Galerie Schoeller (Düsseldorf, DE) ● Participates in Hommage à Hans Liechti, Villa Medici (Solothurn, CH) ● Participates in Informele kunst in België en Nederland, Gemeentemuseum (The Hague, NL) / KMSKA (Antwerp, BE)
● 1984 ● Travels to Austria with his judo club in February. On March 2, he dies of a fatal heart attack on the tatami of his judo club in Apt (FR).