Upon this lithograph in square format, created for the Shelter Foundation, we see a further form, ostensibly square. The picture surface is virtually colorless, and yet there is agitation. The imprint on the paper suggests that the printing plate has shifted, thus preventing the lines in the lithograph from meeting. The rigid geometry of the picture surface is interrupted and the viewer’s critical eye finds itself compelled to rejoin the fragmented lines. Without success. Through these simplest of means Morellet creates a visual disturbance that is forever veering between harmony and unrest.
François Morellet (1926 Cholet, France – 2016 Cholet, France)
The versatile work of François Morellet has made him one of the best known and most original representatives of Concrete Art. In 1960 he founded with other colleagues the Group de Recherche d’Art and experimented, often with an ironic touch, with various painting media, kinetic sculpture, light art and printmaking. His work was frequently seen at the documenta in Kassel (1964, 1968, 1977) and at the Biennale in Venice (1970, 1986, 1990). Museums holding his works include Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie and the Centre Pompidou in Paris and many of his works are featured in public spaces.
