This year marks the 90th birthday of French abstract painter and sculptor Francois Morellet, one of the most important artists of 20th century geometric abstraction and the founding member of Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV).In this milestone year, Morellet’s life, legacy, and influence is being celebrated with no less than 11 solo exhibitions in 8 countries, including three concurrent solo exhibitions at Annely Juda Fine Art and The Mayor Gallery, both in London, and Dan Galeria in São Paulo.The Mayor Gallery in London and Dan Galeria in São Paulo have collaborated on an exhibition showcasing a selection of 32 important abstract geometric works made by the artist in his studio in Cholet between 1969 and 1974, with the exception of a painting exhibited in Zagreb in 1962.Christine Hourdé of Mayor Gallery says: “We are showing 16 works acquired from the artist, [drawn] from the secondary market and from the collection of Henri Chotteau. We thought it would be a nice tribute to the artist to run shows at the same time, celebrating his birthday with different periods of his work.”According to Hourde, the group of work that includes the silkscreen on board “4 trames de tirets du bleu au vert pivotées sur un côté” 1971 “shows how the effect of undulation can be achieved with a simple system: with 2 colours (blue and green) placed in vertical bands then staggered, the artist multiplies the form to obtain a vibration effect and a graduation from light to dark, top to bottom.”With the wire mesh work “3 trames 0º, -22º5, +22º 5” 1971, Hourde explains that “Morellet rejected the sensitive side of the pictorial technique, to be accurate and ‘anti-impressionist’ as Theo van Doesburg used the expression in 1930 in Manifesto for Concrete Art.”“As in using silkscreen printing, he took ownership of an existing industrial material, wire mesh, that he used in different sizes of wires and thickness of mesh, with works which dated from as early as 1959. In this work, three fine mesh plaques are superimposed in three different angles (see title) on a black painted wooded frame to give an amazing visual effect of network,” Hourde adds.The exhibition at Annelly Juda Fine Art features 16 new and recent neon works and paintings made between 2005 and 2016, including the major neon sculpture “Cercle à demi-libéré n°1” (2013) and the 100 x 100cm acrylic on canvas on wood “Strip-teasing 4 fois n°10 (2016)”According to Annelly Juda, most of Morellet’s more recent works are based on a white or black square canvas, with “Contresens no 2” introducing red neon to create a dramatic effect.“The work “Lamentable ø 5m blanc” is one of the most important works in the exhibition. The hanging neon lights have featured in many of François Morellet’s iconic works and the choice of title reflects his immense sense of humour, which is a recurring theme in all of his works,” Juda explains.“In many of his works Morellet plays with different angles of specific degrees and the often random effect this has on the outcome of his works. He feels that as soon as he has chosen these random angles, the work develops by itself without his influence. With the work “Rococoncret n°4” Morellet hangs the canvases at different angles and introduces elements of the circle creating a fascinating way of how the eye travels around the work.”Throughout his five decade career, Morellet has challenged the boundaries and expanded the very definition of abstract art, creating mind-bending optical effects consisting of complex geometric grids and patterns generated using mathematical systems combined with elements of chance.In his quest to “end the conventional artistic practice of canvases, paintbrushes, an easels,” Morellet also began experimenting with unconventional materials such as neon and tape – what he described as “modern materials that hadn’t been ‘polluted’ by traditional art.”Commenting on his methods and motivations, Morellet has said: “The plastic arts should allow the spectator to find what he wants, in other words what he brings to them. Artworks are picnic areas, places where you take potluck consuming whatever you have brought along.”“In order to channel my sensibility as an ‘Artist’, I did away with composition, removed any interesting aspects of execution and rigorously applied simple, straightforward systems that could develop in a completely random way by means of participation.....”The Francois Morellet exhibitions are at The Mayor Gallery until May 27 and Annely Juda Fine Art until June 24.
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