herman de vries — zero is the gate

Exhibition of the Dutch ZERO artist at the ZERO house.

Exhibition view,  “herman de vries — zero is the gate”, ZERO foundation, 2026. Photo: Annika Bethan

 

➤ Duration: August 29 until October 24, 2026
➤ Opening hours: saturdays from 12.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
➤ Free public guided tour on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 11 a.m with Sarah Spörer.

Photo: Annika Bethan

 

How many plants are there in 0.16 dm²? Would you have guessed that there are 473 different plants? The Dutch artist herman de vries – who has used only lowercase letters for over 70 years – found these plants in an area of 16 dm², collected them, dried them, and carefully placed each one on a sheet of plastic. The work 16 dm² – an essay, 1975/76, fills an entire wall and shows us – like an exploded view – the diversity of Earth’s habitat, which we trample underfoot every day, both recklessly and thoughtlessly.

Since his artistic beginnings in the late 1950s, herman de vries has had an eye for the beauty of nature, which he presents to us in a purist manner, without embellishment. After a hailstorm in 1978, he collected 20 leaves from his apple tree, each showing different types of damage from the hailstones. As identical as the genetic material may be, the wounds caused by the environment are just as diverse.

We hardly notice the unterfränkischen sandstein (Lower Franconian Sandstone) – which sometimes adornes a house facade in a deep red and at other times in a pale yellow – as we walk by, until it lies before us in an exhibit consisting of 21 rectangles of equal sized but varying colors.

The art of herman de vries lives from his keen observation of nature and his aesthetic curiosity. Whether it be people, places or vegetation, everything has its own significance, without the artist feeling the need to interpret it. As he himself says: “these are all ‘factual materials’, genuine zero works. nothing has been added, apart from the titles.”

During his many travels, de vries gained insights into a wide variety of cultural and natural environments, which are documented in his journals.

The journal “from a trip to imessouane“, 2011, features 17 panels depicting plants, stones, shells, and artifacts that herman and susanne de vries found with Marion Reissner on February 9, 2011, during a stay in Imessouane, a coastal town in Morocco.

Arranged like a scientific tableau and evenly distributed across sheets of paper measuring
35 x 25 cm, the shapes and colors of the found objects evoke a magical poetry all their own. The objet trouvé has been well known in art since Marcel Duchamp’s famous Fountain (1917) and the Surrealists’ ready-made, yet hardly anyone has managed to visualize the contradiction that lies in the sensory richness of the material and the deliberate omission of a message. What herman de vries – who turned ninety-five on July 11, 2026 – wants to convey is vividly illustrated by transit/vergänglichkeitswerke II (Transit/ Works On Transience), 1980: A daily newspaper – in this case, the “Haßfurter Tagblatt” – is left in the garden for one, two, three, four, or five months. In a display case, we now see five copies of the newspaper, just as the natural, organic processes of decomposition left the printed paper behind.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose Tractatus logico-philosophicus de vries loves so much, writes: “At the basis of the whole modern view of the world lies the illusion that the so-called laws of nature are the explanations of natural phenomena.” (6.371) One would like to read the slim Tractatus a second time, holding it in one’s hands while referring to the illustrated encyclopedia of de vries.

Curator: Barbara Könches
Studio herman de vries: Katharina Winterhalter

Exhibition view,  “herman de vries — zero is the gate”, ZERO foundation, 2026. Photo: Annika Bethan

 

The project is financially supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Guided tours of the ZERO house

Photo: Foto Laska – Annika Bethan

We are delighted to announce that, starting in February 2026, we will be offering a free guided tour of the studio house at Hüttenstrasse 104 on the first Saturday of every month at 11 a.m.

In addition to presenting current exhibitions, our tour will give you insights into the history of the house, Otto Piene’s original fire studio, where the artist’s legendary fire paintings were created, and our archive, which houses numerous documents, correspondence, and photographs of the ZERO movement.

The next dates:

Saturday, November 7, 2026, 11 a.m. with Catrin Hüske
Saturday, December 5, 2026, 11 a.m. with Sarah Spörer

 

 

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.

FOUNDING MEMBERS

Heinz Mack
Otto Piene
Günther Uecker

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Stephan Keller (Chairman)
Miriam Koch (Vice Chairwoman)

Friderike Bagel
Ute Eggeling
Alexander Fils
Elizabeth Goldring Piene
Detlef Hunsdiek
Mischa Kuball
Christoph Laugs
Heinz Mack
Eva Mörger
Ulf Montanus
Markus Raub
Dorothée Schneider
Jacob Uecker
Heike van den Valentyn

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Antonia Lehmann-Tolkmitt (Chairwoman)
Claus Gielisch
Felix Krämer (Vice Chairman)
Harry Schmitz
Jürgen Wilhelm

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Barbara Könches

TEAM

Catrin Hüske
Research Assistant
Collection

Sarah Spörer
Administration & Public Relations

Mara Vieten
Research Assistant
Archives

Visiting the ZERO house

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.

Free Public guided tours will take place on the first Saturday of the month at 11 a.m. starting again in February 2026.
Dates: 7th of February, 7th of March, (no tour on the 4th of April) and 2nd of May 2026.

Location rental

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

 

GETTING HERE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT

From Dusseldorf’s main train station, you can reach us with tram lines 704 and 707, alighting at the stop “Helmholtzstraße”. From the city centre (“Schadowplatz”) you can reach us with the tram line 705.

PARKING

The ZERO house does not have its own parking facilities. We recommend arriving by public transport.

In Freundschaft für Günther Uecker (“In friendship for Günther Uecker”) is a tribute to the artist on his 95th birthday by colleagues, students, curators and collectors. The friendship book brings together personal stories about selected works, poems, photos, drawings and memories.

Authors:  Stephan Keller, Antonia Lehmann-Tolkmitt, Detlef Hunsdiek, Marion Ackermann, Ingrid Bachér, Friderike Bagel, Kornelia von Berswordt-Wallrabe, Till Breckner und Afshin Derambakhsh, Gil Bronner, Tony Cragg, Leopold von Diergardt, Felix Droese, Ulrich Erben, Joachim Gauck, Claus Gielisch, Elizabeth Goldring-Piene, Benjamin Katz, Felix Krämer, Kitty Kemr, Norbert Lammert, Sabine Langen-Crasemann und Karla Zerressen, Anna mit Alexander und George Lenz, Heinz Mack, Stephanie Mayer, Christian Megert, Volker Mischok, Matias Möller, Cathrine und Manfred Pape, Hermann Parzinger, Robert und Irmgard Rademacher, Jochen Saueracker, Wolf Schäfer, Ulrike Schmitt, Ursula Schulz-Dornburg, Axel Vervoordt, Stephan von Wiese und Constanze Kleiner, Jürgen Wilhelm, Oliver Wolleh.

Preview: Contributions by Joachim Gauck, Oliver Wolleh and Tony Cragg for In Freundschaft für Günther Uecker


Concept: Barbara Könches
Editorial team: Catrin Hüske, Barbara Könches, Antonia Lehmann-Tolkmitt, Jürgen Wilhelm
Graphic Design: Tipogris Books and Brands, Neuss
Others:
German, multilingual
March 2025, 72 pages
Hardcover, 21 cm x 29,7 cm

Pricing:
> Numbered: 35 € (limited to 300 copies)

plus a shipping fee of €7 (Germany-wide, others to be determined). Collecting your book from the ZERO house is also possible. Please contact us if you wish to do so.

If you are interested, please send an e-mail to info@zerofoundation.de. We will confirm your order, issue an invoice and send your copy after payment.


 

ZERO-Kunst und Mode (“ZERO art and fashion”)

ZERO was a new beginning. At the end of the 1950s, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker questioned traditional art. This also applies to fashion. The renowned expert Barbara Vinken shows that both share a conceptual interest that sometimes playfully and wittily, sometimes crazy and shifted, threw conventions overboard. Always emphasizing the performative in art, the combination of objects made of light and movement is shown here: from the fashion creations of Lucio Fontana and Yves Klein to the “ZERO dress”. With this publication, the ZERO foundation dedicates itself to a completely unexplored topic. Artworks and documents from the ZERO avant-garde are compiled, contextualized and presented from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Author: Barbara Vinken
Editor: Barbara Könches for ZERO foundation
Graphic Design: Neil Holt, Köln
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Berlin
More:
German
January 2025, 72 pages, 47 illustrations
Klappenbroschur, 14,2 cm x 2,10 cm

Price: 18 €

plus a shipping fee of 3 € (Germany-wide, others to be determined). Collecting your book from the ZERO house is also possible. Please contact us if you wish to do so.

If you are interested, please send an e-mail to info@zerofoundation.de. We will confirm your order, issue an invoice and send your copy after payment.


 

“Opening the Archive: The ABCs of ZERO”

For the ZERO avant-garde, traditional conceptions of art could be challenged through transforming the atelier into an exhibition space and disseminating their art through books. In this manner they made friends with the representatives of Concrete Poetry. A diagram visualizes who they thought to be part of the movement: those who were open to experimentation and those were not afraid to work with fire; even in the galleries, few of which were willing to pay homage to the avant-garde at this time. International thinking united the young artists of the 1950s and 60s, whose network extended from Düsseldorf to Milan, Brussels, Paris, and Zagreb. Kinetics and light replaced brushes and canvases, and new music played in the background. They also tried to get closer to nature through the concept of the Open Artwork.

In The ABCs of ZERO, writers, scholars, and authors from the fields of art, music, sociology and theater tell the story of this art movement—from A for atelier to Z for ZERO. Featuring a wealth of photos and documents from an era just emerging from the ruins, but facing the future with optimism, this book recalls a historical moment of peaceful utopia in Europe.

Authors: Iwona Dorota Bigos, Barbara Büscher, Romina Dümler, Rudolf Frisius, Eugen Gomringer, Ann-Kathrin Illmann, Barbara Könches, Bartomeu Marí, Marco Meneguzzo, Leonard Merkes, Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck, Matthieu Poirier, Astrit Schmidt-Burkhardt, Sophia Sotke, Anna-Lena Weise, Rebecca Welkens, Andreas Joh. Wiesand, Jürgen Wilhelm, Regina Wyrwoll

Editor: Barbara Könches for ZERO foundation
Image Editing: Anna-Lena Weise and Rebecca Welkens
Graphic Design: Digibox GmbH, Düsseldorf
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Berlin
More:
English
October 2024, 492 pages, 260 illustrations
Hardcover, 20,2 cm x 21,2cm

Price: 58 €plus a shipping fee of 7 € (Germany-wide, others to be determined). Collecting your book from the ZERO house is also possible. Please contact us if you wish to do so.

If you are interested, please send an e-mail to info@zerofoundation.de. We will confirm your order, issue an invoice and send your copy after payment.

Ausschnitte eines Gesprächs mit Dieter Jung anlässlich seines 80. Geburtstages

Excerpts from a conversation with Dieter Jung on the occasion of his 80th birthday, ZERO foundation, 23rd October 2021.

Available in German language only.

ZERO-Abécédaire

Public workshop on the research project “ZERO-Abécédaire”, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, 02.09.2023 – 03.09.2023.

 

Ein Kleid, monochrom – ZERO and Fashion @ZERO foundation

“Ein Kleid, monochrom. ZERO and Fashion, Exhibition and Fashion Show, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, April 16 – July 2

 

 

Ausgepackt...Archivgespräche der ZERO foundation (Zusammenschnitt)

“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

#zero_art_aroundtheworld, online project, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf  02/2021 – 04/2021

 

 

 

Tagung "Mack und Musik"

“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!" 18.-20.10.2018 in Düsseldorf / ZERO foundation / ZERO art foundation

“ZERO. Please turn! Open House. Open-Air Exhibition. Conference.“ ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf, 18.10.2018 – 20.10.2018

 

 

Exhibition / Ausstellung ZERO at POMA, Pohang, Korea / ZERO foundation / ZERO art foundation

Exhibition „ZERO” inPohang Museum of Steel Art (POMA), Pohang, Republic of Korea, 04.9.2019 – 27.01.2020

I eat zero, I drink zero, I sleep zero, I awake zero, I love zero. Zero is beautiful.

(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.

Our history

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.

Membership

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.

Board

Detlef Hunsdiek (Chairman), Gisa Berghof, Beda Bolzenius, Barbara Könches, George Lenz, Alexa Riederer von Paar (Vice Chairwoman), Andreas Rohlfing (Treasurer), Hubertus Schoeller

Programme and Member Support

Clara Oertel

Freunde der ZERO foundation Düsseldorf e.V.
Hüttenstraße 104
40215 Düsseldorf
Tel.: +49 (0)211 59 85 14 86
Email: freundeskreis@zerofoundation.de

Supporters and Sponsors

The ZERO foundation is financed by the Department of Culture of the City of Düsseldorf
 
The ZERO foundation is supported financially and administratively by the Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast

The website was created with significant support of

 

 

 

 

 

The ZERO House was significantly funded by

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

 

NEWSLETTER




We use Mailchimp as a service provider for sending our newsletter. Within the scope of this registration, you agree that your entered data will be transmitted to Mailchimp. Please observe Mailchimp’s data protection regulations and general terms and conditions.

Please follow us on social media:

Back to archive

This is a selection from the archive and collection of the ZERO foundation. You can view the entire archive here .

Poster for the exhibition “Forum ’62” at the Centrum voor Kunstambachten (St. Pietersabdij), Ghent, 1962

Inv.-No.: mkp.ZERO.1.VII.115, Heinz Mack estate, ZERO foundation, Düsseldorf.

The exhibition “Forum ’62” took place from May 06 to June 03, 1962. Forum ’62 was an initiative of the Nationaal Centrum voor Moderne Kunst, founded by the poet Paul de Vree. In addition to Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker, the works of Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Christian Megert, Uli Pohl and Jef Verheyen were on display.

The selection is constantly being expanded.