Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 08
Photo: Christine Clinckx / M HKA
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
>Yves Klein, Pigment pur, 1957.Installation, tray with pure pigment, Variable dimensions.
>Yves Klein, Pluie bleue, (S 36), 1957.Installation, dry pigment and synthetic resin on twelve wooden rods, 209 x 1,1 cm.
>Galerie Iris Clert, Jef Verheyen, • 0821 • Ruimte, 1958-1959.Painting, oil paint on canvas, 42 x 32 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Galerie Schoeller, Sammlung Lenz, • 0460 • Untitled (Un des premiers argents), 1959-1960.Painting, oil paint and silver pigment (back) on burlap, plexi frame, 80 x 100 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Axel Vervoordt, Galerie Bernard, Lucio Fontana, • 0400 • Untitled (Pour Fontana), 1959-1960.Painting, oil paint on burlap, 100 x 82 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Galerie Bernard, • 0822 • Niet Ruimte, 1960.Painting, oil paint on canvas, 130 x 100 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, • 0198 • Gouden Rook - I x I = I, 1960-1961.Painting, oil paint and gold pigment on canvas, 130 x 95 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, • 0084 • Espace flamand, 1960-1961.Painting, oil paint and brass powder on canvas, 130 x 190 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Galerie Bernard, • 0820 • Die Vlammen dansen, 1961.Drawing, smoke drawing on paper, 48 x 60 cm.
>Piero Manzoni, Linea, 1961.Drawing, smoke drawing on paper, 41,5 x 58,5 cm.
>Jacqueline & Mark Le Jeune, Galerie Ad Libitum, Jef Verheyen, • 0788 • Untitled, 1962.Drawing, pastel on paper, 59 x 43 cm.
>Alfons De Belder, Yves Klein, Renaat Braem, Jef Verheyen, Installation view with Yves Klein’s 'Pluie bleue' and 'Trois tables monochromes' in the vaulted cellar of ‘t Fortje (Deurne, Antwerp), 1964.Photography, photograph.
>Gerald Dauphin, Jef Verheyen, Günther Uecker, Günther Uecker and Jef Verheyen during the preparations of their land art project 'Vlaamse Landschappen' in Mullem,, 1967.Photography, photograph.