Zero and Nouveau Réalisme
The questioning of reality
From the mid-1950s, new strategies for appropriating reality developed in European art, which manifested themselves in works, texts and a network of artist friends. Young painters and sculptors resisted the visualization of inner, psychological processes as practiced in the prevailing art of the Informel. The new generation of artists found themselves in cities such as Milan, Düsseldorf or Paris and discovered that their colleagues beyond national borders were pursuing similar goals. The rejection of informal art was their most important commonality. ZERO, Azimuth, G58, GRAV and Nouveau Réalisme were groups that formed at the intersection of artistic interests and methods. Artists of like mind exhibited together, published in self-published publications and took part in actions together. They asked the world the same questions and came to comparable answers in their works and theoretical reflections. The question of the relevance of art for the design of reality led them to a reduction in their visual languages in order to enable objective results in the works. The works of art represented an appropriation and questioning of reality and were intended to lead to a direct confrontation with the realities in art and life. Themes such as monochrome, serial structures, chance, light and fire established themselves as technical-artificial or elementary-natural media for image production. In addition to the reduction of the visual language and the associated experiments in the areas of form, material and technology, the expansion of the work of art was a central aspect of ZERO and Nouveau Réalisme. The limitation in color and form as well as the methodical reduction of the artist's signature were dialectically opposed to spatial, material and medial dissolution of boundaries.
In January 1963, Otto Piene proclaimed a "New Idealism" in a public speech in Krefeld, which he clearly established in contrast to New Realism. Piene saw ZERO and Nouveau Réalisme as "related and yet essentially opposed". This proclamation led to a controversial dispute between the three Düsseldorf ZERO artists Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker, which became a central reason for the separation of the community at the end of 1966. As early as May 1965, in the context of the exhibition ZERO: Mack, Piene, Uecker organized by Wieland Schmied in the Kestnergesellschaft, a growing distance between the three protagonists became apparent.
The exhibition, a cooperation between the Ahlers Pro Arte Foundation and the ZERO foundation, is made possible by the commitment of Ahlers AG. The similarities and differences between ZERO and Nouveau Réalisme are examined. The focus is on the two aspects of material appropriation and structure. Based on the historical ZERO exhibition in the Kestnergesellschaft, ZERO is represented by Mack, Piene and Uecker. The works of the Nouveaux Réalistes are drawn from the extensive holdings of the ahlers collection. The focus will be on works of art by Arman, Yves Klein, Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé. Works by François Dufrêne, Niki de Saint Phalle, Daniel Spoerri and Jean Tinguely will also be presented.
The exhibition includes around one hundred paintings, sculptures, graphics and objects. In addition to works from the ahlers collection and the ZERO foundation, important loans from European museums and private collections will be shown.
The accompanying publication contains an introduction by art historian Dirk Pörschmann (ZERO foundation) and two historical texts by art critics Wieland Schmied and Pierre Restany, which provide the context for the theoretical debate. Wieland Schmied, who was positively inclined towards ZERO, and Pierre Restany, who was considered the theoretical head of Nouveau Réalisme, offer the best conditions for this, as they have closely followed the artists for many years and published extensively on the post-war avant-garde.
Raymond Hains
En deux parties, 1961
Poster tears on sheet iron
ahlers collection
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017