Weißer Lichtgeist , 1966
220 x Ø 60 cm, crystal glass, metal, bulb, timer, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, Invent.-No. mkp.ZERO.2012.06, photo: Marcus Schwier
History
ZERO was a new beginning: a conscious break with convention. Taking ZERO as a starting point, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker began challenging traditional art in the late 1950s. In the span of just a decade, what began in Dusseldorf, Germany soon evolved into one of the most significant avant-garde movements of the 20th century; a movement which – together with groups created at the same time and other fellow artists in Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands – continues to influence art to this day.
In 2008, approximately 50 years later, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker – in cooperation with the Museum Kunstpalast foundation and on the initiative of Mattijs Visser – founded the ZERO foundation as a non-profit foundation under civil law in Dusseldorf.
The artists contributed works of art and archive materials such as photographs, correspondence, invitation cards, drafts, posters and exhibition reviews to the foundation.
Task
As an academic research centre with connections around the world, the ZERO foundation is concerned with the preservation, history, presentation and contextualisation of ZERO art and the ZERO movement.
To date, exhibitions have been carried out in the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe, Japan; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, USA; the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands; and the Pohang Museum of Steel Art in Pohang, Republic of Korea, among others.
The ZERO foundation publishes the results of its research in its own publications.
Since 2018, the ZERO foundation has organised presentations, film screenings and exhibitions in the ZERO house in Dusseldorf.
The academic archives are constantly being expanded and can be viewed here.