Lichtplantage , 1966/2016
300 x 325 x 325 cm, metal, light tubes, timer, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, Invent.-No. mkp.ZERO.2008.63, photo: Jürgen Vogel / LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn
➤ 23rd of March until 18th of August 2024, at KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
From March 23rd, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of his death, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) will present Jef Verheyen. Window on Infinity: Flemish artist Jef Verheyen’s first museum solo exhibition in his hometown. The exhibition will concentrate on the conceptual nature of Verheyen and his role as a bridge-builder between modern and conceptual art.
Frequently cited as a modern avant-garde master and an artist who worked from the core of an international network centred on ZERO artists, the work of Jef Verheyen (1932-1984) is of paramount importance to the European art world. In the exhibition visitors will discover his fascinating interplay of light and dark, of form and colour.
Verheyen’s works be placed in dialogue with his predecessors,contemporaries and with contemporary art. Prestigious loans from the Yves Klein Foundation, the Uecker Archiv and the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, among others, will enhance the exhibition and locate Verheyen in an international context.
The exhibition is a collaboration between the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), with the support of the Jef Verheyen Archive.
Sarah Spörer talked to Annelien De Troij, co-curator, about the exhibition:
Sarah Spörer: What are your hopes for the upcoming Jef Verheyen exhibition in Antwerp?
Annelien De Troij: I hope this exhibition will shed a new light on the specific position Verheyen occupies not only within the ZERO movement but also as an artist who explored the boundaries between tradition and avant-garde. His fascination for Chinese monochrome painting and ceramics, for example, is more than just an illustration of the interest he took in eastern culture and philosophy. It reconnects his own artistic intuition with a longstanding monochrome tradition. Via this detour of ceramics, Verheyen explored the potential of monochrome painting.
His first trip to Milan undoubtedly reinforced these early experiments. At the end of 1957 he made a series of paintings that he deliberately described as “monochrome, bichrome and trichrome”. As early as 1958, in his manifesto Essentialisme, Verheyen used the word “achrome”. At about the same time Manzoni started using the term consistently to describe his colourless experiments from 1958–1959. The terminological kinship underlines that Verheyen had arrived in Milan at a defining moment in the development of the post-war avant garde. Verheyen’s awareness of that key moment drove his determination to set up an “international manifestation for monochrome painting” in Antwerp in early 1959. Although this project only ever existed as a dream on paper, it was considered as a precursor of Monochrome Malerei, the prestigious exhibition of 1961 in Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen. It is, more in general, one of the first artist-driven attempts to establish a neo-avantgarde.
His thinking, however, regularly pushed him to the edges of the conceptual. He connects a modernist tradition with a more conceptual art. It’s a first that a museum exhibition celebrates Verheyen as a precursor of contemporary art. Therefore, we have invited the contemporary artists Ann Veronica Janssens, Kimsooja, Pieter Vermeersch and Carla Arocha & Stéphane Schraenen.
Sarah Spörer: What connects Jef Verheyen to ZERO?
Annelien De Troij: Verheyen felt connected with international monochrome painters. Their “artless art” offered an alternative to gestural or informal painting. For them, only the poetry of pure matter counts, of colour or absence of colour, because, as Verheyen conceptualised: ”In a monochrome or achrome painting, light must be felt rather than seen.”
To liberate the potential of the idea or concept, artists such as Piero Manzoni,Lucio Fontana and the Düsseldorf ZERO artists passed a zero mark. They exhausted the artistic possibilities of painting, as it were, in order to explore the freedom of a new visual thinking, starting from that tabula rasa.
Verheyen witnessed that unique moment in Milan. However, while some contemporaries from the ZERO movement such as Hermann Goepfert or Günther Uecker said goodbye to painting in the early 1960s, Verheyen continued to stand by his old tried and trusted medium: painting.
Sarah Spörer: Do you have a personal favorite at the exhibition for ZERO-enthusiasts? If so, which one?
Annelien De Troij: I immediately think of Le Vide (The Void). Not a painting, surprisingly enough, but a sculpture conceived in 1963-1965:
Verheyen continued to conceptually purify the idea. In this way, he explored the suggestion of space through a window, a frame, in his oeuvre. In his two-dimensional works a painted window directs the viewer’s gaze to an unlimited space, wherein – as in Taoist thinking – a vide makes room for contemplation. Verheyen’s paintings thus explore the suggestion of infinite space.
But here, in Le Vide, Verheyen literally employed a frame which becomes the ultimate window on infinity. It consists of a simple framework, made of chromed metal. Later, in 1967, he further developed this idea when he organised the open-air exhibition Vlaamse Landschappen (Flemish Landscapes) in East Flanders, together with Günther Uecker. Verheyen and Uecker placed enlarged wooden frames in an Arcadian landscape as an invitation for the viewers to lose themselves in the meditative tranquillity of the space opening up. One could easily consider this project as a precursor of conceptual land art. It exemplifies how central the idea had become within Verheyen’s oeuvre.
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.
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.
Heinz Mack
Otto Piene
Günther Uecker
Stephan Keller (Chairman)
Miriam Koch (Vice Chairwoman)
Ute Eggeling
Alexander Fils
Elizabeth Goldring Piene
Detlef Hunsdiek
Miriam Koch
Heinz Mack
Eva Mörger
Ulf Montanus
Manfred Neuenhaus
Markus Raub
Johanna Reich
Dorothee Schneider
Hubertus Schoeller
Günther Uecker
Heike van den Valentyn
Antonia Lehmann-Tolkmitt
Claus Gielisch
Felix Krämer
Harry Schmitz
Jürgen Wilhelm
Barbara Könches
barbara.koenches@zerofoundation.de
Tel.: +49 (0)211 59 80 59 78
Romina Dümler
Curator
romina.duemler@zerofoundation.de
+49 (0)0211 59 87 46 91
Sarah Spörer
Administration & Public Relations
sarah.spoerer@zerofoundation.de
+49(0) 0211 59 80 59 77
Rebecca Welkens
Archives
rebecca.welkens@zerofoundation.de
+49 (0)211 59 80 71 33
We gladly offer tours of the ZERO house. On our tour, you will get to know the workspaces of ZERO artists Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker, get a glimpse into our archives, and experience Otto Piene’s original fire studio. The tour lasts approx. 45-60 minutes and is only available by prior arrangement. A maximum of 25 people for a guided tour should not be exceeded. Larger groups will be split up and the price increased in accordance with the size of the group. We would be happy to send you a detailed offer for exclusive guided tours.
We are happy to rent out our rooms for your events. You can hold a private celebration or a company event in the former studio rooms on the ground floor or on the second floor. Use our rooms for presentations, film screenings, seminars, meetings or receptions and experience the flair of this old studio house. At just under 100sqm, the ground floor – Günther Uecker’s studio in the 1960s – offers space for a maximum of 70 people. At around 70sqm, Otto Piene’s legendary fire studio on the second floor of the ZERO house can accommodate up to 45 people. Feel free to contact us with regards to our various options, as well as when it comes to planning catering and furnishings.
Please note that the ZERO house does not have disabled access.
We look forward to your interest in tours or in renting out our rooms:
Email: info@zerofoundation.de
Tel.: 49-(0)211-59 80 59 76
Only after registering by phone.
From Dusseldorf’s main train station, you can reach us with tram lines 704 and 707, alighting at the “Helmholtzstraße” stop.
The ZERO house does not have its own parking facilities. We recommend arriving by public transport.
Excerpts from a conversation with Dieter Jung on the occasion of his 80th birthday, ZERO foundation, 23rd October 2021.
Available in German language only.
Public workshop on the research project “ZERO-Abécédaire”, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, 02.09.2023 – 03.09.2023.
“Ein Kleid, monochrom. ZERO and Fashion, Exhibition and Fashion Show, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, April 16 – July 2
“Unboxed…Archivgespräche der ZERO foundation”, online project, compilation of interviews conducted from 04/21 – 06/21, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf
Available in German language only.
#zero_art_aroundtheworld, online project, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf 02/2021 – 04/2021
“Mack and Music – A conference in honor of Heinz Mack”, hybrid conference, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, 26.02.2021
Available in German language only.
“ZERO. Please turn! Open House. Open-Air Exhibition. Conference.“ ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, 18.10.2018 – 20.10.2018
Exhibition „ZERO” inPohang Museum of Steel Art (POMA), Pohang, Republic of Korea, 04.9.2019 – 27.01.2020
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ZERO foundation
Sarah Spörer
Administration, Public Relations & Kommunikation
info@zerofoundation.de
Tel.: +49 (0)211 59 80 59 77
(Excerpt from the ZERO Manifesto, 1963)
ZERO is beautiful. Would you like to find out more about ZERO – to experience it and go on a journey with it? Would you like to get to know ZERO in more detail and keep the memory of this art movement alive? Then become a member of our ZERO circle of friends.
Welcome to the circle. As a member, you can take part in exclusive events such as previews or studio and collection visits. You can accompany the circle on visits to ZERO-specific museums and exhibits in New York, Istanbul, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Antwerp or Seoul, as well as on tours organised exclusively for the circle of friends. You will get to personally meet with artists, collectors, curators and museum directors. As a member, you will receive all information on the ZERO foundation’s planned exhibitions and activities before anyone else – we keep you in the picture at all times.
The non-profit association Freunde der ZERO foundation Düsseldorf e.V. [Friends of the ZERO foundation in Dusseldorf] was founded in January 2010 in order to support the foundation’s projects and to expand its unique collection through the acquisition of ZERO art. Additionally, the circle wishes to bring together people who share the same passion: the ZERO period and its art.
We are delighted with the constantly growing number of active members. Everyone is able to play an active role in the Freunde der ZERO foundation Düsseldorf e.V. association, and thus to fill the circle of friends with life and ideas. We would be glad to welcome you to the circle.
Annual fee for individual membership: | 150 euros |
Annual fee for double membership: | 250 euros |
Annual fee for sponsoring membership: | 700 euros |
Junior members up to the age of 40: | 50 euros |
Annual fee for company membership: | 1,000 euros |
Download the membership application!
Annual fees and donations are deductible within the meaning of Section 10b EStG [German Income Tax Act]. A corresponding donation receipt will be made out to each member annually.
Would you like to give a membership to our association as a gift? We also offer the option of a six-month gift membership. The semi-annual fee amounts to 75 euros for individual membership, 125 euros for double membership and 25 euros for individual members under the age of 40.
Detlef Hunsdiek (Chairman), Gisa Berghof, Stefan G. Drzisga, Barbara Könches, George Lenz, Alexa Riederer von Paar, Andreas Rohlfing, Hubertus Schoeller, Georg Wiesner
Marlene Reinkemeier
Freunde der ZERO foundation Düsseldorf e.V.
Hüttenstraße 104
40215 Dusseldorf
Tel.: +49 (0)211 59 85 14 86
Email: freundeskreis@zerofoundation.de
Freunde der ZERO foundation Düsseldorf e.V.
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art
Dr. Christoph Boeger
BORZOGALLERY
Till Breckner
Dorotheum
Dr. Gabriele Fischer
Jens-Daniel Florian
Elizabeth Goldring Piene
Rolf Kalthöfer
Andreas Kleffel
Sammlung Lenz Schönberg
Ute und Heinz Mack
The Mayor Gallery
Catherine Pape
Tonny und Henk Peeters
Irmgard und Robert Rademacher
Familie Salentin
Harry Schmitz
Hubertus Schoeller
Rüdiger K. Weng
Weng Fine Art AG
Rüdiger K. Weng A+A GmbH
Hüttenstraße 104
40215 Düsseldorf
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)211 59 80 59 77
Fax: +49 (0)211 59 80 59 76
Email: info@zerofoundation.de