Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 08
Painting with air and smoke
Smoke, flames, rain and air… how can one capture the evanescence of these elements? That is what Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein and Jef Verheyen wonder. They explore the limits of painting and push its boundaries with a more conceptual art. To them the concept or idea behind the work of art is of great importance. In Verheyen's oeuvre this manifests itself in titles such as Ruimte (Space) and Niet Ruimte (Non-Space).
Verheyen remains faithful to painting, but he also explores other artistic media, in collaborations with various artists, poets and architects. His open air collaboration with Günther Uecker, for example, is a Land Art project avant la lettre. With architect Renaat Braem, Verheyen designs an installation for the architectural project Integratie 64. He also co-curates this exhibition, a role he will take on several times.
Works

Pigment pur, 1957
Yves Klein
Installation, tray with pure pigment, Variable dimensions

Pluie bleue, (S 36), 1957
Yves Klein
Installation, dry pigment and synthetic resin on twelve wooden rods, 209 x 1,1 cm

• 0821 • Ruimte, 1958-1959
Galerie Iris Clert, Jef Verheyen
Painting, oil paint on canvas, 42 x 32 cm

• 0460 • Untitled (Un des premiers argents), 1959-1960
Jef Verheyen, Galerie Schoeller, Sammlung Lenz
Painting, oil paint and silver pigment (back) on burlap, plexi frame, 80 x 100 cm

• 0400 • Untitled (Pour Fontana), 1959-1960
Jef Verheyen, Axel Vervoordt, Galerie Bernard, Lucio Fontana
Painting, oil paint on burlap, 100 x 82 cm

• 0822 • Niet Ruimte, 1960
Jef Verheyen, Galerie Bernard
Painting, oil paint on canvas, 130 x 100 cm

• 0198 • Gouden Rook - I x I = I, 1960-1961
Jef Verheyen
Painting, oil paint and gold pigment on canvas, 130 x 95 cm

• 0084 • Espace flamand, 1960-1961
Jef Verheyen, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf
Painting, oil paint and brass powder on canvas, 130 x 190 cm

• 0820 • Die Vlammen dansen, 1961
Jef Verheyen, Galerie Bernard
Drawing, smoke drawing on paper, 48 x 60 cm

Linea, 1961
Piero Manzoni
Drawing, smoke drawing on paper, 41,5 x 58,5 cm

• 0788 • Untitled, 1962
Jacqueline & Mark Le Jeune, Galerie Ad Libitum, Jef Verheyen
Drawing, pastel on paper, 59 x 43 cm

Installation view with Yves Klein’s 'Pluie bleue' and 'Trois tables monochromes' in the vaulted cellar of ‘t Fortje (Deurne, Antwerp), 1964
Alfons De Belder, Yves Klein, Renaat Braem, Jef Verheyen
Photography, photograph
Günther Uecker and Jef Verheyen during the preparations of their land art project 'Vlaamse Landschappen' in Mullem,, 1967
Gerald Dauphin, Jef Verheyen, Günther Uecker
Photography, photograph