New York

ZERO in Vibration – Vibration in ZERO

October 12, 2014 – January 8, 2015

Günther Uecker (b. 1930)
Column of Nails, 1964
Paint on nails, paint on wooden box, and unfinished wooden beam
50 x 14 x 12 in. (127 x 35.6 x 30.5 cm)
Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, New York

Bernard Aubertin (b. 1934)
Carré-zérotique, 1987
Acrylic and nails on wood
27½ x 27½ in. (70 x 70 cm)

Piero Dorazio (1927–2005)
Pink, 1962
Watercolor on paper
27½ x 19¼ in. (69.8 x 48.9 cm)

Christian Megert (b. 1936)
Lightbox, 1964
Wood, mirror and fluorescent tube
19¾ x 15¾ x 4¾ in. (50 x 40 x 12 cm)

Exhibition view.

François Morellet (b. 1926)
2 trames de chevrons superposées, 1961
Oil on wood
31½ x 31½ in. (80 x 80 cm)
Courtesy François Morellet

Walter Leblanc 1932–1986)
130 CX 378 (Twisted Strings), 1977
Cotton thread and white latex on canvas
51⅛ x 51⅛ in. (130 x 130 cm)

Hermann Goepfert (1926–1982)
Untitled (Kinetischer Reflektor), 1967
Wooden box, nylon thread and aluminum blades
19 x 23 x 2⅝ in. (48.5 x 58.5 x 6.7cm)

Jesús Rafael Soto (1923–2005)
Vibration noir et verte, 1966
Nylon line, paint on metal bars, and paint on wood
23 x 43 x 9 in. (58.4 x 109.2 x 22.9 cm)
Collection Neuberger Museum of Art
Purchase College, State University of New York

Heinz Mack (b. 1931)
Veil of Light, 1964
Plexiglass, chrome, hexcell and plastic
69 x 51 x 24 in. (175. 3 x 129.5 x 61 cm)

Otto Piene (1928–2014)
Untitled (Gelber Auszug, Rasterleinwand), 1957–58
Oil on canvas
12 x 27⅛ in. (30.4 x 69 cm)
Private collection

Hermann Goepfert (1926–1982)
Polaris (Kinetischer Reflektor), 1967
Wooden box, nylon thread, plastic foil, and aluminum blades
48 x 64½ x 7⅝ in. (122 x 164 x 19.5 cm)

Exhibition view.

Bernard Aubertin (b. 1934)
Cercle de feu tournant, 2013
Metal and match sticks
Diameter: 23⅝ in. (60 cm)

Heinz Mack (b. 1931)
Untitled, 1964
Stainless steel sheets, 16⅛ x 31⅞ in. (31.1 x 80.8 cm)
Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York

Piero Dorazio (1927–2005)
Rosso di sotto, 1961
Oil on canvas
31⅞ x 39⅜ in. (81 x 100 cm)

Günther Uecker (b. 1930)
Nail Structure, 1963
Paint, nails and canvas on wood, 21⅝ x 21⅝ x 3½ in. (54.9 x 54.9 x 8.9 cm)
Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York

Otto Piene (1928–2014)
Rolling Stars (Rasterkeramik), 2006
Ceramic
33½ x 33¼ x 1½ in. (85 x 84.5 x 4 cm)

Piero Dorazio (1927–2005)
Untitled, 1960
Watercolor and crayon on paper
20½ x 28¼ in. (52 x 72 cm)
Exhibition view.

Oskar Holweck (1924–2007)
Reissrelief, 1960–61
Torn paper
27½ x 27½ in. (70 x 70 cm)
Private collection

Almir Mavignier (b. 1925)
White Through Green, Blue, Violet (Weiß durch Grün, Blau, Violett hindurch), 1965
Oil on canvas, 19¼ x 16⅛ in. (48.9 x 41 cm)
Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York
Walter Leblanc (1932–1986)
Torsions, 1965
Oxidized steel
70⅞ x 6 x ⅛ in. (180 x 15 x 0.4 cm)
The ZERO Foundation, Düsseldorf

Almir Mavignier (b. 1925)
Color Change on the Border (Farbwechsel an der Grenze), 1967
Oil on canvas, 15⅜ x 12⅝ in. (39.1 x 32.1 cm)
Collection Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York

Piero Dorazio (1927–2005)
Grey, 1959
Watercolor on paper
23 x 19¼ in. (58.4 x 48.9 cm)
Otto Piene (1928–2014)
Untitled, 1965
Gouache and smoke on serigraph on paper
25¼ x 19⅝ in. (64.1 x 49.8 cm)
Neuberger Museum of Art
Purchase College, State University of New York
Piero Dorazio (1927–2005)
Untitled, 1960
Lithograph on paper
9 x 8 in. (23 x 20.5 cm)
Edition of 50

Moeller Fine Art is pleased to announce "ZERO in Vibration –Vibration in ZERO," a collaboration with the ZERO Foundation, Düsseldorf, and the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, on view from 13 October 2014 through 9 January 2015.

The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Otto Piene (1928–2014).

In 1958 Otto Piene and Heinz Mack (later joined by Günther Uecker) formed the ZERO group in Düsseldorf, whose aim, Piene wrote, was to create "a zone of silence and of pure possibilities for a new beginning." Their art championed kinetic, light and minimalist elements expressed in new media, such as chrome, aluminum, latex and motors, providing a counterpoint to Abstract Expressionism in post-war Europe. 

In 1958 the group published its second art magazine on the occasion of a series of studio exhibitions dedicated to "Vibration," including works by Oskar Holweck, Heinz Mack, Almir Mavignier and Otto Piene, centered on the theme of visual movement. 



In 1959 ZERO came before an international public with the landmark exhibition "Motion in Vision – Vision in Motion," at the Hessenhuis, Antwerp, an artist-curated exhibition, and over the following decade gained participants throughout the world: Piero Dorazio, Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni in Italy; Bernard Aubertin, Yves Klein and François Morellet in France; Walter Leblanc in Belgium; Jesús Rafael Soto in Venezuela; and Hermann Goepfert, Christian Megert and Almir Mavignier in Germany.


"ZERO in Vibration – Vibration in ZERO," organized on the 30th anniversary of Moeller Fine Art in New York and the 55th anniversary of "Motion in Vision – Vision in Motion," finds fresh resonance in the literal, optical and potential vibrations of ZERO. Highlights include Veil of Light, 1964, by Heinz Mack, a pulsating plane of reflective hexcells; 2 trames de chevrons superposées, 1961, by François Morellet; and Rosso di sotto, 1961, by Piero Dorazio, a vibrant, intersecting grid painted on canvas. 



The exhibition includes loans from the Neuberger Museum's George and Edith Rickey Collection of Constructivist Art, the ZERO Foundation and works for sale from private collections. An illustrated catalogue, with texts by Mattijs Visser (Director, ZERO Foundation) and Serge Lemoine, accompanies the show, which runs parallel to "ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–1960s" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the first exhibition based on international research projects initiated by the ZERO Foundation. Moeller Fine Art has contributed to the Guggenheim Museum's exhibition with the loan of two works by Otto Piene, Light Satellite and Light Drum, 1969.

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