Bernard Aubertin RED by De Buck Gallery

BERNARD AUBERTIN RED

Bernard Aubertin

This catalogue was published on the occasion of Red: The Estate of Bernard Aubertin, on view at De Buck Gallery from September 22 - October 29, 2016. ESSAY Melania Gazzoti PHOTOGRAPHY Bill Orcutt (Artwork) A. Morain (p. 9, 26) Giulia Bassi (p. 29) DESIGN Jennifer Wolf PRINTING Albe De Coker, Antwerp Artist’s letters (p. 25, 36) reproduced with the kind permission of courtesy the Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen. Presented in collaboration with the Archivio Aubertin and Fondazione Berardelli, with special thanks to Kanalidarte. GALLERY David De Buck: david@debuckgallery.com Rachel Vancelette: rachel@debuckgallery.com Kathryn Mc Sweeney: kathryn@debuckgallery.com De Buck Gallery 545 W 23rd Street New York, NY 10011 +1.212.255.5735 www.debuckgallery.com De Buck Gallery is at complete disposal to whomever might be related to the unidentified sources printed in this book. © 2016 Melania Gazzoti © 2016 De Buck Gallery ISBN 978-0-9851748-5-9

The Estate of Bernard Aubertin

TABLE OF CONTENTS Tableaux Clous

Rethinking Art: Bernard Aubertin and Zero By Melania Gazzoti

Sculpture

Artist Text I: The Pictorial Situation of Red in Spatial Concept By Bernard Aubertin

Monorosso

AlvĂŠoles

Monochromes

Artist Text II: Fire Paintings - Triumphant Fire By Bernard Aubertin

Fire Paintings

Right: Bernard Aubertin playing with a Penetrable sculpture by Jesus Rafael Soto, 1969

Tableau Clous, 1962 plexiglas 11 x 11 x 3 3/4 inches 28 x 28 x 10 cm

Tableau Clous, 1971 paint and nails on panel 19 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches 50 x 50 cm

Tableau Clous, 1970 paint and nails on panel 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches 20 x 20 cm

Tableau Clous, 1970 paint and nails on panel 13 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches 35 x 50 cm

Tableau Clous, 1968 paint and nails on panel 19 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches 60 x 50 cm

Tableau Clous, 1969 paint and nails on panel 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches 20 x 20 cm

Tableau Clous, 1968 paint and nails on panel 19 3/4 x 35 1/2 inches 50 x 90 cm

Tableau Clous, 2010 varnished nails on panel 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches 20 x 20 cm

Tableau Clous, 2012 varnished wood 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches 30 x 30 cm

Tableau Clous, 2010 varnished hooks on wood 11 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches 30 x 30 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, Performance at Studio Brescia, 1975

Rethinking Art: Bernard Aubertin and Zero Melania Gazzoti

In order to recount the artistic journey of Bernard Aubertin we need to not only consider the cultural context in which he began working, Paris in the late fifties, and his enlightening encounter with Yves Klein, but also, and above all, his relationship with Zero, the artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; group founded in Germany in 1957. Aubertin and Klein met for the first time in 1957 in Paris, the city where they both lived. The Parisian artistic scene, yet again the hub for European avant-garde, was dominated by the gestural abstraction of Art Informel and Tachism, known for its spontaneous brushwork, drips and blobs of paint that represented the sense of chaos and impotence perceived immediately following World War II. While visiting Kleinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studio, Aubertin was taken aback when he saw canvases painted entirely in one color. Klein used pure pigments: green, yellow, orange, black, white, red, and the blue, which he experimented with for the first time that year, that would eventually become synonymous with his name (IKB - International Klein Blue). Meeting Klein stimulated deep reflection and questioning in Aubertin surrounding the very idea of painting, so much so that after a few months, he started painting his first monochromatic canvases. Driven by instinct, almost immediately he chose to solely use the color red, a color with which he associated a strong symbolic value. According to Aubertin, red possessed the same primordial force as fire, both freeing and regenerating, and was capable of transmitting the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire to go beyond traditional painting and renew stylistic and aesthetic canons. The visual potency of the color was amplified by the techniques that the artist utilized. Aubertin created his Monochrome rouge using spatulas to smear the color on the canvas, as well as using more common objects like forks, spoons, and his hands. These techniques transformed the act of painting into a violent physical experience. The urgency that Aubertin felt to redefine his own ideas of art and painting was shared with numerous artists in Europe, many of whom joined Zero or one of the similar groups which gravitated around it.

Klein first realized the strong affinity between Aubertin’s work and Zero and put him in contact with the founders, Otto Piene and Heinz Mack. Aubertin fully agreed with the spirit of the movement, whose goal was to allow new artistic energies to circulate in order to develop innumerous possibilities. This spirit found itself in a generally optimistic climate, favored by post-war reconstruction and economic growth. Therefore the expression ‘Zero,’ which is not a German term, did not have a negative connotation but underlined the group’s international ambitions. The movement did not have a rigid structure and was open to the involvement of multidisciplinary experiences from a variety of geographical locations and fields. Vibration, movement, light, and repetition were some of the recurring elements in the members’ experimentations. Through the organization of events, exhibitions, performances, and the publication of a magazine, which had three issues, Zero quickly managed to create a network that united movements and individuals. Simultaneously, similar groups interested in experimenting with new materials and techniques were formed throughout Europe, such as the French group: GRAV - Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (1960–1968); the Italian groups: Azimuth (1959–1960), T (1959–1967), Enne (1959–1964); and the Dutch group: Nul (1960–1965). The events organized by Mack and Piene in Düsseldorf, which took the form of exhibitions/happenings/conferences, were central to the development of Zero’s transnational strategy. Bernard Aubertin became an exponent of Zero on the occasion of one of these events. Aubertin participated in the exhibition ZERO – Edition Exposition Demonstration, in the Schmela Gallery in Düsseldorf, located on the same street where the third and final issue of the magazine Zero was presented. The central themes of this issue, published in July of 1961, were nature/man/ technology. The magazine was divided into sections, each section was dedicated to an artist with photographs, texts, portraits, and projects. The first was about Lucio Fontana, who was considered the father and inspiration of the movement. Here, Aubertin first published his writing together with the contributions of Enrico Castellani, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Piero Manzoni, Daniel Spoerri, Arnulf Rainer, Dieter Roth, Jean Tinguely, Günther Uecker, along with those of Mack and Piene. The essay entitled, Situation picturale du rouge dans un concept spatial (The

Undated letter from Piero Manzoni to Bernard Aubertin

pictorial situation of red in spatial concept) offered a theoretical justification for his monochromatic choice and in particular his choice of red, which could also be read as an outright declaration of his adhesion to Zero. A common theme amongst the practitioners of Zero was the willingness to experiment and theorize about the power of a single color. From the metaphysical to the objective, each artist brought a different connotation to this practice based on his or her own personal sensibility. A couple of examples are the Achrome by Manzoni, white surfaces created with various techniques and materials where the essence of color is used to focus the viewer’s attention on the materialistic qualities of the object’s surfaces and the Concetti spaziali by Fontana, monochromatic canvases slashed with cuts and holes. Mack’s reflective surfaces were also part of this trend of researching the effects of light and refraction. In Aubertin’s work, the color red was not only protagonist in the series of Monochromes, but also in many other works, like the Tableaux clous, created for the first time in 1960 by vigorously hammering nails through a wooden board. Despite the violence of this action, the nails were arranged with great accuracy to form geometric shapes creating a play of light/shadow and an effect of seriality. Around the same period, Günther Uecker, who joined the leadership of Zero in 1961, started applying nails on the surface of wooden boards. The alternation of light and shadow created by the nails evoked the sensation of movement. Unlike Aubertin, Uecker considered these wooden boards different from paintings, in fact, Uecker applied nails on different surfaces including objects. Another common practice that Aubertin and other Zero exponents used was that of combustion. The artist first introduced flames in his work in 1961, as a natural derivation of his usage of red, when he created his first Tableaux feu. This idea was further developed in other compositions where matches were applied to aluminum, cardboard, or paper (among this series of works are the Chemin de feu, the Parcours d’allumettes, the Dessins de feu, and the Feu sur bois). He also created sculptures by burning musical instruments, books (Livres brûlés), auto-

Disque de feu tournant, Performance at the CNAC, Paris, 1972

mobiles, and other common objects. The performative component always played a key role during the creation of these series of works, whether the artist created the piece in front of an audience or in his own studio. Fire was the real protagonist and author of the performative act. Aubertin left the canvas or objects to the mercy of fire: the final result was neither controlled nor premeditated. This was clear in the performance piece, Le Disque de Feu Tournant, created by Aubertin for the exhibition at the CNAC (Centre d’Art Contemporain) in Paris with Fred Deux and Otto Schauer in 1972. Aubertin carefully positioned matches on a metal disk that was placed in a completely darkened room. With the audience present, he lit the matches and started violently spinning the metal disk thus giving life to the performance. The movement, which was out of the artist’s control, became the real artifice of the piece by amplifying the power of the fire and surrounding the spectators with the light, heat, and vibration of the flames. The act of burning was recurrent in the work of the artists who joined Zero and was often evoked by the presence of soot. Traces of combustion appear in the series of Peintures de feu by Klein, in the paintings of Piene and Henk Peeters, and in other works by Manzoni and Jef Verheyen. According to the members of Zero, including Aubertin, the connotation of this act was not destructive and did not seek to completely nullify the materials, but rather the contrary; the objective was to enliven the works with the element of randomness. The use of monochromatic compositions, the use of nails, and combustion demonstrate how easily Aubertin adhered to Zero and how his work fit perfectly in the group’s research. Participation in Zero was not only a matter of sharing theoretical and research affinities but also aspects of human relationships and close collaborations. Aubertin’s intense personal involvement in Zero’s activities was shown by the correspondence that he kept with exponents of the group around Europe during the sixties and seventies (the group officially disbanded in 1966 but the artists continued to work individually). There are collections of letters, postcards, and telegrams with Klein, Manzoni, Mack, Piene, Julio Le Parc, Jean-Pierre Vasarely Yvaral, Jan Schoonhoven, Hans Haacke, Henk Peeters,

and Herman de Vries in Aubertin’s archive, currently preserved at the Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst in Reutlingen, Germany (the city where the artist lived the last years of his life). These exchanges of letters coincided with a hectic exhibition schedule in which Aubertin showed his work in numerous group and solo shows which took place in Germany from Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt and Stuttgart to the Netherlands in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Arnhem. He also took part in some of the most important Zero exhibitions such as NUL at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1962) and Zero AVANTGARDE, held at Fontana’s studio in Milan (1965). Aubertin’s extended network of contacts was evident by the avant-garde magazines that published his theoretical texts (like the Dutch Nul=0 and Intégration, the French Robho and the Italian Lotta Poetica). Such interventions fully testify to the complexity of Aubertin’s connections, not only to the other members of Zero, Nul, and Nouveau realism, but also more broadly to the European avant-garde art of his time.

Melania Gazzoti is a freelance curator and art historian, specializing in European avant-gardes. From 2004 to 2010, she worked for the MART – Museo d’arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e di Rovereto. In 2013, she was awarded the Guggenheim Foundation’s Hilla Rebay International Fellowship, giving her the opportunity to work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. In 2015, she worked for the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA), New York and in 2016 she was awarded a Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar Fellowship by Yale University. She is currently collaborating with the Italian Cultural Institute, New York.

Right: Fiat 500 Performance, 2010

Fiat 500, 2010 acrylic on burnt car and metal base 59 x 118 x 57 inches 150 x 300 x 145 cm

Voiture brûlée, 2010 mixed media 12 x 15 1/2 inches 30 x 40 cm

Untitled, 2010 acrylic on burnt guitar 20 x 37 1/2 x 36 2/3 inches 51 x 95 x 93 cm

Untitled, 2010 acrylic on burnt piano 57 7/8 x 25 1/2 x 53 1/2 inches 147 x 65 x 136 cm

Allumette GĂŠante, 1978 painted wood 39 1/2 x 6 x 6 inches 100 x 15 x 15 cm

Grand Clou, 2012 varnished nail 12 x 5 5/8 x 5 5/8 inches 31 x 14 x 14 cm

Letter from Jan Schoonhoven to Bernard Aubertin, 1962

Artist Text I: The Pictorial Situation of Red in Spatial Concept Bernard Aubertin, 1960 In 1957, I encountered Yves Klein and his monochrome paintings. The beauty of his painting impressed me, and I did not find his problem unusual, simply, it inspired me, and that which soon would feel familiar confused me. I was a figurative painter then, and I remained one for some time still – however, it was a great shock, and my desire to create a monochrome painting occupied me increasingly often. The frequency of this desire grew constantly, I became obsessed – finally, I tried to paint a monochrome, to deliver me from my obsession. The sense of freedom that I felt was such that I wanted to reflect on the consequences of my action – I knew that I was bewitched. The depressing idea that I was possibly an imitator was puzzling at times. However, in retrospect, that evaluation did not seem very fair. I became obsessed, but in an extraordinary way. It was as if someone had generously opened my eyes, as if the monochrome can be at once Yves’ creation, and also an expression of my own intimate taste. Therefore, I made the decision to become a monochrome painter. It was simple, the way that a painter in 1910 probably became a disciple of a Cubism that he did not create, but at the same time imperious. What you will read now does not have the pretention to be a manifesto, but more precisely an explanation of some personal ideas, and others that Klein and I share, about monochrome painting. The Pictorial Essence of Monochromy The goal of monochromy is to impregnate the painted surface with a pictorial essence. Monochromy confirms the impotence of line, form, color, composition, etc. to reveal the pictorial essence, the only quality of the canvas. All psychological references are abandoned. They play an intermediary role that belongs now in the past. The problem of material is very important. Is it preparation for something sublime? In the imagined plane, yes, and we will see why. In monochrome painting, it is the hand that does all. And what a hand, instinctive and powerful, definitively sensual. Manual execution is therefore an upsetting problem, because it is the key to painting and creates the “little miracle.” What is this “little miracle”? Pictorial essence. It manifests itself in the same way as the artist’s sensuality. Color: Its Characteristics Its appeal to beauty, its fascination, its movement, its luminescence, its vibration, its psychic effect, its tactile presence. Color has two values: absolute value (the pure tone) and relative value (that obtained by manually mixing pigments together, the optical mixture – pure colors juxtaposed). When multiple colors meet on a canvas, they lose their absolute values to gain a relative value. The phenomenon of optical mixing is also accomplished by juxtaposing colors side by side. In other words, the colors are influenced by one another. Monochromy conserves the color’s absolute value. The use of only one color abstracts space. Space is the product of only one color. The viewer of a monochrome painting is confronted with color, and he wishes to penetrate it.

It is not the violence or psychological force of the color red that captured my interest. The movement and the inherent luminescence of the color justify its use in my eyes. A simple belief in the poetic significance of legitimate dynamism explains my persistence in using the color red. The choice of color in monochromy has nothing to do with a desire for objective description (i.e. blue like the sky). Color is nothing more than a material destined to liberate the emotive tensions of being. The emotional role that one attributes to a color is charged by the monochrome painter to be its psychological essence. It does not possess a plastic character. It is therefore naturally abandoned. Red, obviously, provokes abstract emotions inherent to its dynamic radiance. These psychological realities are not taken into consideration by the painter who prefers that they don’t exist (because monochrome painting is not an expressionistic type of painting). Only the light-color (not in the luminist sense of the term) and its eccentric movement, retain the attention of the painter because vermillion red proves to be the only color charged with this (evidently plastic) presence. The destiny of color is totally realized in monochrome painting. A full fascination with color is tangible in monochromy. Because of its intermediary function, color finally exists. Through its radiant presence in space, it imposes its magic. By spreading it, I deform the color through my sensual and physical natures. Therefore, the color adds an ontological expression to its physical properties. The physical situation of color depends on its conjugated qualities (the freed gesture and inspiration of the painter.) In monochrome painting, color is the world of the painter. On Manual Execution… Manual execution is always emotional. Subconscious life and psychic energy transmit excitement through the hand. A simple plane of color executed by the human hand on any surface – paper, canvas, etc….expresses a constant movement and life. It’s the opposition of the mechanism (the support) and the fluid psyche in the pure state. Color enlivens, it dilates, and moves non-stop (I will add that this impression is indisputable in the case of a solid in that this color possesses an eccentric dynamism). The emotive charge transmitted by the hand in execution is the affective plane in monochrome painting. Attribution of color – it is the transmitter of an organic, magnetic state. (The world around us gives our eyes a mysterious importance that excites our curiosity. Our surroundings in particular capture our interest. This influence in the artist’s world is translated through manual execution. In this, contact between the artist and the outside world is essential to the creative act.) Manual execution introduces the product in color – the magnetic fluidity of this contact. The monochrome surface is a plane void of tensions, in it we encounter the fluid unconscious, subconscious and magnetic. The life of material-color results from consciously using the psychic automatism of the painter’s gesture in his revealing projection of the interior world. This is the psycho-analytical side, strictly personal, of the automatism of the painter’s gesture which I will name here: the interior world. The material-color enfolds the exigencies of the mystic interior and signifies a permanent current of pure vitality, an essentially dynamic, euphoric ecstasy, a brief absolute internal reality, generating a locomotive quality, through the intermediary of manual execution, the pictorial essence. The work uniquely comes from imagination and sensibility without referring to visual conventions.

On Imagination: Imagination plays a large role in art – it provides our capacity to work with the unknown. There are two types of imaginative attitudes. First, that which invents. Second, that which is not capable of inventing, from a known source that imagines an exaggeration of life. It is a deforming attitude. The pictorial essence is composed from the second imaginative attitude. The place where it manifests itself is sometimes, not always, the first imaginative attitude: invention. In cases where pictorial essence is presented as invention, one has made a pure, autonomous creation. (The need to make something sublime!) Monochrome painting refers to pure imagination; the power of imagination provokes an ecstatic reaction from the viewer. Imagination reveals the quality of our sensibilities. The monochrome painter requires this absolute practice, since imagination is a generative phenomenon of pictorial essence – the monochrome painter knows that sensibility and imagination are synonymous. On Space: Monochrome space suggests the idea that one does not represent space, but instead a continuity of elements whose constant fluidity establishes a sensation of movement or dilation. The canvas is not content only to come alive in front of the viewer. It carries psychic impressions, dynamic emotion and above all a sensation of space real and not, just like traditional painting, a proof of space. The search for depth has long obsessed artists. Depth is in fact a characteristic of space. Today, monochrome space/pictorial infinity abolishes depth. Monochrome in principle integrates perfectly with architecture. By his willingness to integrate painting and architecture, the monochrome painter works towards an art that truly creates an atmosphere. N.B. – Monochrome painting creates an atmosphere through its spatial character, but it is not atmospheric in the impressionistic sense of the term. On Quality: The monochrome painter searches for quality as a particular aspect of oil. He envisions oil as equal to cement, it is a material to him. The result is the establishment of a unique quality, situated as part of a spatial concept. The material-color should be worked with exceptional talent to exalt its radiance, an intensity which, by identifying it, establishes a pictorial presence. The painter’s touch, his technique, the fact that he shows his canvases, frees his pictorial essence. The action of the knife, the brush, the hand on the canvas (the latter is often more efficient than other actions), accounts for the greatest expression of the unique nature of pictorial essence. In conclusion, the life of the painted surface is conditioned by the presence of pictorial essence, introduced through one particular medium by a qualitative manual execution where sensuality and sensibility are found.

Right: Zero reunion (Aubertin, Piene, Uecker, Mack), 1989

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Monorosso, 1982 acrylic on metal 23 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches 60 x 60 cm

Monorosso R-219, 1982 acrylic on metal 19 3/4 x 8 inches 50 x 20 cm

Monorosso, 1982 acrylic on metal 32 3/4 x 11inches 83 x 28 cm

Monorosso R-222, 1982 acrylic on metal 11 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches 30 x 40 cm

Above: Bernard Aubertin at Galerie Denise Richard, Paris, 1962

AlvĂŠole n. 13, 1990 acrylic on cardboard 20 3/4 x 15 3/8 inches 55 x 40 cm

AlvĂŠole n. 30, 1990 acrylic on cardboard 18 x 15 1/8 inches 45 x 40 cm

AlvĂŠole, 1990 acrylic on cardboard 43 1/4 x 21 3/4 inches 110 x 55 cm

AlvĂŠoles, 1990 acrylic on cardboard 21 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches 55 x 50 cm

Right: Bernard Aubertin at work, Brescia, 2010

Monochrome Rouge, 1982 mixed media 17 1/8 x 17 1/8 inches 44 x 44 cm

CarrĂŠ argent n. 24, 2009 acrylic on canvas 27 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches 70 x 70 cm

Monochrome argent, 2009 acrylic on canvas 27 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches 70 x 70 cm

Untitled, 2007 acrylic on paper 18 3/4 x 15 5/8 inches 48 x 40 cm

Achrome, 2008 acrylic on paper 18 3/4 x 14 1/4 inches 48 x 36 cm

Artist Text II: Fire Paintings - Triumphant Fire Bernard Aubertin, 1969 At the end of 1958, I began a series of red monochromes. To do this, I covered the entire surface of the canvas with the help of a large palette knife. Then I created reliefs of small red teeth with a paint-filled spatula. This gesture, repeated systematically across the entire painted surface, formed an image like a sea of petrified fire. Other monochromes are executed by juxtaposing thick layers of color. I ended with a range of red smears. For me, monochrome painting has proven to free the spirit and the body. Freedom of the spirit because I do not create a painting in the conventional sense. Freedom of the body, because above all, monochromy feels physical. In monochrome painting, I work, I fight with the color red, and finally, I swim in a sea of fire, of heat, of love. With red, I identify myself with fire, it is fire that I want to possess and that I appropriated four years later, in May 1961, in inventing my first fire painting. At the end of 1960, I created a red nail painting, while still making monochrome paintings. Through 1967, four stages developed in my body of nail paintings. 1960, 1961, 1962: the nails are enrobed in red, covering the body and head of each one, and the spaces between them, to camouflage the view. The flames of material-color run across the nails. The painting seems completely enflamed. By the end of 1962 and for the next three years, I sunk the nails into their wooden support to form the surface of the painting. The nails, longer than the panels are thick, shatter the wood and appear on the other side of the support. This face, bristling with points and shards, receives the color. It is the front of the work. Filled with the heads of the implanted nails, the back is covered in a layer of rust-proof paint. The play of wood splinters jammed between the points represents the fixed incandescent matches, the functional phase of my fire paintings composed of matches and developed as a result of my nail paintings. The years 1965, 1966, 1967 opened a period of rigorous precision in the nail paintings. The nails formed intersections of geometric lines and more or less elaborate networks, some of which appear to be stars or crystals. Color is applied mechanically. The work is freed by the thick paint that covers the nails and the shards. November 1967 saw the birth of the first fluorescent red nail painting: luminous, triumphant, incandescent. The nail paintings of each period distinguish themselves as different from one another. Their diversity comes from varying levels of the implantation of the nails, their angles, their form and their areas of concentration. The progression of color towards a maximum radiance, the variety of the nails, and the play of light amongst the fields of nails, together constitute the materialization of my fire paintings in action. Capturing the image of fire, the ephemerality, the energy, is the significance of my monochrome work: paintings on canvas and nail paintings. For me, ephemerality is reality. Working with the ephemeral means developing a new vocabulary. In my work, I have shown a new universe in which everything exists: movement. One cannot invent without observing oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surroundings; without being aware of life. Art is a philosophy. In my â&#x20AC;&#x153;spectacleâ&#x20AC;? of levitating fire, which masterfully confirms the significance of my work, I felt the intoxicating physical sensation of fire, I conquered the certainties of life to free myself from intellectual and physical constraints. I effectively bathed in an energy of incalculable heights. I no longer felt subject to the laws of gravity.

Parcours d’allumettes, Performance at Studio Brescia, 1975

I work, I swim, I fly in the immense cosmos. By 1961, I had already captured fire. It was an individual that I faced. It was a painting or an object. Seven years later the fusion was accomplished. Fire and I were no longer separate, when one night in September 1968 I leapt, a liquid incendiary bomb in each hand, in front of a rain of fire coming from bands of inflamed plastic. The flammable liquid that I sprayed on this rain, created, upon contact, jets of fire that formed as if they were fugitive constellations. This act of levitating fire affirmed the realization that “I am extradimensional.” The spectator also cannot resist this strong impression. Today, the role of the artist is to show their audience ways to function, with the ultimate goal being absolute freedom, as much as that is possible, of the soul and the body. The work and the man must do more than find themselves face to face like a matador and bull in an arena. The suppression of physical and psychic conflicts give birth to Life. We can be here, we understand, in the life we have known until now. On the contrary, on the question of real life, as I’ve had the privilege to practice throughout my work, I have patiently searched to clarify, to confirm the language.

Right: Unrealized project, 1978

Le Disque de Feu Tournant, 1967 burnt metal disc 15 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches 40 x 40 cm

Livre brûlé performance, 1968

Livre brûlé, 1972 burnt book 19 3/4 x 27 1/2 inches 50 x 70 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 33 1/8 x 27 3/4 inches 84 x 71 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 31 1/8 x 25 5/8 inches 79 x 65 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on paper 18 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches 47 x 37 cm

Untitled, 1974 burnt matches on paper 30 1/2 x 24 inches 78 x 61 cm

Tetes d’allumettes coupées et collées, 1974 match heads on cardboard 24 x 24 inches 61 x 61 cm

Chemin de feu dans lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;espace, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 33 1/4 x 27 1/2 inches 85 x 70 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 33 1/8 x 27 5/8 inches 84 x 70 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 25 x 31 inches 64 x 79 cm

Chemin de feu dans lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;espace, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 33 1/4 x 27 1/2 inches 85 x 70 cm

Chemin de feu dans lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;espace, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 30 1/2 x 25 inches 78 x 64 cm

Chemin de feu dans lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;espace, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 31 1/4 x 25 2/3 inches 79 x 65 cm

Chemin de feu dans lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;espace, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 31 x 25 inches 79 x 64 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on cardboard 30 3/4 x 25 inches 78 x 64 cm

Parcours dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;allumettes, 1974 burnt matches on paper 27 3/4 x 21 1/8 inches 71 x 54 cm

Dessin de Feu, 1973 burnt matches on paper 40 1/4 x 28 1/4 inches 100 x 70 cm

Dessin de Feu Circulaire, 1973 burnt matches on aluminum 35 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches 90 x 90 cm

Dessin de Feu A-86, 2010 burnt matches on aluminum 39 1/3 x 39 1/3 inches 100 x 100 cm

Table avec guitare rouge, 2010 burnt miniature guitar on paper 15 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches 40 x 30 cm

Papier rouge brĂťlĂŠe,1974 burnt paper 27 1/2 x19 3/4 inches 70 x 50 cm

BERNARD AUBERTIN 1934 2015

Born in Fontenay-aux-Roses, France Passed away in Reutlingen, Germany

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 2015 2014

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2008 2007

2006

Red: The Estate of Bernard Aubertin, De Buck Gallery, New York Leeahn Gallery, Seoul Palazzo della Cancellaria, Sala Vasari, Rome Von Zero bis Heute, Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Cologne Galerie Traits Noirs, Toulouse Bernard Aubertin und Zeitgenossen, Galerie Maulberger, Munich Bon Anniversaire Bernard!, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Monochromes Noirs, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Galerie Jean Greset, Besancon, France La nature des choses, Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice Galerie Veronique Smagghe, Paris Livres Brules, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Rouge, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Spazio Espositivo Giardino Agora, San Dona di Piave, Venice Galleria Civica Citta di Desenzano, Brescia Works from 1958 - 1989, The Mayor Gallery, London Borghese Palace Art Hotel, Florence MDZ Gallery, Knokke, Belgium Galleria Orlando, Brescia Galleria Civica di Padova, Padova Galleria Rosenberg, Milan Galleria CD Studio d’Arte, Padova Palais de Tokyo, Paris Tonabuoni Gallery, Paris Museo Civico Parisi, Valle Maccagno, Italy La pittura brucia, Galleria Bonioni, Reggio Emilia, Italy Galleria d’Arte Rosenberg, Milan Galleria Kanalidarte, Brescia Galleria Studio F22, Palazzolo sull’Oglio, Brescia Galleria Bettini & Co, Vicenza Pleins Feux, Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Paris Tableaux Feu et Monochromes, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Il Fuoco e il Rosso, Galleria d’Arte Rosenberg, Milan Rosso Assoluto, Galleria L’Incontro di Colossi E., Chiari, Italy Livres d’Art Brûlés, Artantide, Verona Poesia Azione e Parole, Fondazione Berardelli, Porto di Santa Teresa di Gallura, Italy Piano et Violon Brûlés, Fondazione Berardelli, Brescia Sacrifice, Palazzo Ducale di Arezzo, Italy Ippodromo di S. Siro, Milan Galerie De Rijk, The Hague Das Quadrat in Der Sammlung, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen 75 X Aubertin. Works from 1958 – 2008. A Retrospective, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Galleria Rosenberg, Milan Galleria Wack, Kauserslautern, Germany Dessin de Feu, Galleria Proposte d’Arte Contemporanea, Pietrasanta, Lucca Le Rouge et le Feu, XXVI Edizione Asolo Art Film Festival, Treviso, Italy Energia Rosso Fuoco, Artantide, Verona Le Rouge Total, Galleria Cidacarte, Brescia

2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

1995 1994 1993 1992 1991

1990

1989 1988 1987 1986 1983 1979 1978 1977 1975

1974

1973

Peintures Monochromes, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Musée d’Art Moderne, Saint-Étienne, France Die Reise nach Rom, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Blanc Libre, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Picard de Gennes, Galerie Arlette Gimaray, Paris Galerie Scholler, Dusseldorf Bernard Aubertin: Opere, Galleria Cidacarte, Brescia Aubertin Actuel, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Galerie Konstruktiv Tendens, Stockholm Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautem, Germany Galerie Benden & Klimczak, Cologne Tout Rouge Bernard Aubertin. Zum 65. Geburtstag, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen L’Ancien et le Nouveau Rouge. Bernard Aubertin, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Galerie Durhammer, Frankfurt am Main Bernard Aubertin Dokumentarisch, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Le Feu et le Rouge, Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz, Germany Institut Français de Cologne, Paris Galerie Schoeller, Dusseldorf Galerie A – Amsterdam, Amsterdam 100 X Aubertin Konsequenzen einer Ausstellung, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Galerie Gudrun Spielvogel, Munich Galerie Gudrun Spielvogel, Munich Galerie Jousse Seguin, Paris Le Rouge. Retrospective, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Galerie Von Braunbehrens, Munich Kunsthaus Schaller, Stuttgart Domus Jani, Verona Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germany Galerie Gilbert Brownstone & Cie, Paris Galleria Vinciano, Milan Galerie Jousse Saguin, Paris Galeria Oscar Ascanio, Caracas Galerie Schoeller, Dusseldorf Galerie Gilbert Brownstone & Cie, Paris Stiftung fur Konkrete Lunst, Reutlingen Galerie Béatrix Wilhelm, Stuttgart Galerie Charley Chevalier, Paris Galerie Donguy, Paris Galerie Toni Brechbuhl, Grenchen Galerie Weiller, Paris Palazzetto dello Sport, Abano Terme, Italy Galerie 44, Kaarst, Dusseldorf Galleria Rebus, Florence Studio Brescia, Brescia Galleria Il Punto, Turin Galleria Il Canale, Venice Galerie 2, Stuttgart Studio Brescia, Brescia Galleria Branco, Brescia Studio Firenze Art Contemporanea, Florence Galleria dei Mille, Bergamo, Italy Galleria Delta, Salerno, Italy Studio F22, Palazzolo, Italy Gallery Il Canale, Venice Galerie Toni Brechbuhl, Grenchen, Switzerland

1972 1971 1969 1968

1967 1964 1962

Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix, Sables-d’Olonne, France Galerie Seebacher, Vorarlberg, Austria Retrospective Exhibition, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Paris Galerie Ursula Lichter, Frankfurt Galerie Senatore, Stuttgart Galerie des Quatre Vents, Paris Galerie Riquelme, Paris Leine Galerie e V., Frankfurt Galerie Weiller, Paris Galerie M.E. Thelen, Essen Galerie Weiller, Paris Galerie Wulfengasse, Austria

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

Summer Group Show, Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Cologne Sur Le Fil, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Zero and Now, Galerie Schoots + Van Duyse, Antwerp Bernard Aubertin & Bernard Rancillac: De Rouge a Rouge, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Destructive Beginnings, De Buck Gallery, New York Martin Gropious Bau, Berlin Zero: Let Us Explore the Stars, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Allure: Arman, Spoerri, Villegle & Aubertin, Parkview Art, Hong Kong Atmosfera Zero - Great Expectations #2, Cortesi Gallery, London Bernard Aubertin, Heinz Mack, Hans Bischoffshausen, Galerie Walker, Vienna Summertime, Galerie Schoots + Van Duyse, Antwerp Les 10 Ans de la Donation Albers Honegger, Mouans-Sartoux, France Le Rouge et Mis, Galerie des Ponchettes, Nice Wild Patterns, Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam Belvedere Museum, Netherlands ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s – 60s, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York ZERO in Vibration – Vibration in ZERO, Moeller Fine Art, New York Zero Paris - Dusseldorf, Passage de Retz, Paris Les Aventures de la Verite Penture et Philosophie: Un Recit, Fondation Maeght, Saint Paul de Vence, France Surprise, Surprise!, Galerie Jean Greset, Besancon, France Tout Feu Tout Flamme, Tornabuoni Art, Paris Oeuvres sur Papier, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Palais de Tokyo, Paris Nul=0. Nederlandse avant-garde in een internationale context 1961 – 1966, Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, The Netherlands Les 10 Ans de la Galerie Jean Brolly, Bastille Design Center, Paris Gruppe Konkret, Galerie Wack, Kaiserlautern, Germany L’art dans la capitivite du feu, Galerie F. Hessler, Luxembourg Monochrome und Reduktion II, Galerie Walker, Weizelsdorf, Austria Museo Civico Parisi, Valle Maccagno, Italy La Pittura Brucia, Galeria Bonioni, Reggio Emilia, Italy Galeria d’arte Resenberg, Milan Le Feu et Le Rouge, Studio F22 Modern Art Gallery, Brescia Galeria Arte Sante, Moretto, Vicenza Galleria d’Arte Kanalidarte, Brescia Antiantianti, Log, Bergamo Plein Feux, Galerie Arlette Gimray, Paris Tableaux Feu — Monochromes, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris Il Fuoco et Il Rosso, Galeria d’Arte Rosenberg, Milan Livres d’Art Brûlés, Artantide, Verona Poesia Azione e Parole, Porto di Santa Teresa di Gallura, Italy

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005-06

2005 2004 2003

2002 2001-02 2001

2000

1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992

1991

Piano et Violon Brûlés, Fondazione Berardelli, Brescia Sacrifice, Palazzo Ducale di Arezzo, Italy Ippodromo di San Siro, Milan Carte Blanche à la Galerie Jean Brolly, Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, France Zwart Wit, Galerie de Rijk, The Hague Oeuvres optiques et lumino-cinetiques collection Frank Popper, Centre d’art contemporain Frank Popper, Marcigny, France Echoes, Galerie Judith Walker, Weizeldorf, Austria Regard d’artiste, Lieu d’art contemporain, Sigean, France Dimensions Variables (Collection du Frac Bourgogne), CAUE, Dijon, France Monochromie-Reflexion-Vibration-Reduktion…, Galerie Judith Walker, Weizelsdorf, Austria La jardin de la geometrie, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France 10 Jaar, Galerie de Rijk, The Hague Der Zweite Blick Werke der Sammlung, Stiftung der Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Papiers d’artistes, Galerie Stella & Vega, Brest Hommage a Fortuny, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Künstler der Zero-Bewegung, Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germany Austellung Zero. Internationale Kunstler Avantgarde der 50cr/60cr Jahre, Museum Kunstpalast Kulturzentrum, Düsseldorf Stets Konkret in Zusammenarbeit mit Hubertus Schoeller, Galerie Lausberg, Düsseldorf Autour du Groupe Zéro Hier et Aujourd’hui. Une Oeuvre Majeure du Travail de Bernard Aubertin: Performance Pyromaniaque, Espace de l’Art Concret, Donation Albers-Honegger, Château de Mouans-Sartoux, France Square. die Sammlung Marli Hoppe-Ritter, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch, Germany Die Hubertus Schoeller Stiftung… Stets Konkret, Ausstellung Verband Deutscher Papierfabriken, Bonn Inauguration de la Donnation Albers-Honegger, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France Die Hubertus Schoeller Stiftung Stets Konkret, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, Germany Minimal to the Max, The Norton Museum of Art, The Brownstone Collection, Palm Beach Ein Rückblick als Stiftung, Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf Couleur Visions, Chapelle Saint-Anne, Espace Culturel de la baule Einblicke in die Kunstsammlung des Landkreises Reutlingen, Kreissparkasse Reutlingen Seeing Red, Part II : Contemporary Nonobjective Painting, Hunter College, New York Collègues à Paris, Galerie Wack, Kaiserslautern, Germany Hans Bischoffshausen und Sein Umfeld, Galerie Judith Walker, Weizelsdorf, Austria En Gros et en Détail/Worke von A bis Z, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen 10 ans, Centre d’art contemporain Bouvet Ladubay, Saumur, France Biancorosso il Rosso, Associazione Culturale Area, Brescia Bricolage – Collection du Frac bourgogne, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon Raumformat, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany 30 Jahre Kunst-Beispiele aus der Sammlung der Kreissparkasse, Reutlingen Art concret, Espace de l’art concret, Château de Mouans-Sartoux, France Einfach Weis, Einfach Schwarz, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Deutschland Frankreich dialogue, Ludwig Museum in Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz Zero et Paris 1960, Musee d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice Stiftung ganz konkret 1988-1998, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Only Paper? Papier als kunstlerisches Medium, Kunstmuseum Heidenheim, Germany Die konkrete Zeit. Gegenstande eines Jahrhunderts, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen L’art concret aujourd’hui, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France Le feu de la couleur. Hommage a Aubertin accompagne de ses amis due Mouvement Zero, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France L’esprit Dada ou la fin de la Composition, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France Le regard libere, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France Simply Red, Galerie Gilbert Brownstone & Cie, Paris Face a face, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France Museum des 20 Jahrhunderts, Vienna

1990 1989 1988

1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1979 1978 1977 1976 1973 1972 1970 1969

1968

1967 1966

1965

1964 1963 1962 1961

1960

Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Austria Gruppe Zero, Wurth, Handelsbank, Stuttgart Eikon=das Bild, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Linie Farbe Flache, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Le carre libere, Espace de l’Art Concret, Mouans-Sartoux, France Formes et couleurs, Galerie Gilbert Brownstone & Cie, Paris Das Ende der Komposition, Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen La couleur seule, Musee d’Art Contemporain, Lyon Les annees 50, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris ZERO, Un Movimiento Europeo, Fondacion Juan March, Madrid Gruppe Zero, Gallerie Schoeller, Dusseldorf Le carre, FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon Ephemerite, Chapelle de la Salpetriere, Paris 1+1=3 Anton Stankowski und seine Freunde, Galerie Beatrix Wilheim, Stuttgart Salzburg Museum of Art, Salzburg, Austria Zero, Galerie Lohrl, Monchengladbach, Germany L’object en feu, Galerie du fond de la cour, Gabrille Maubrie, Paris Zero: Imagery of European Avantgarde 1958 – 1964, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Zero International, Antwerp; Kunsthaus, Zurich Le musee en tiroirs d’Herbert Distel, Kunsthaus, Zurich Documenta 6, Cassel, Germany Kunstmuseum, Olten, Switzerland Kunst der 60er und 70er Jahre aus Bonner Privatbesiz, Kunstmuseum, Bonn Sammlung Cremer Europaische Avantgarde 1958-1964, Kunsthaus, Zurich Otto Piene-Lichtballett un Kunstler der Gruppe Zero, Galerie Heseler, Munich 12 ans d’Art Contemporain en France, Grand Palais, Paris Tendenzen - Aspekte, Galerie Ursula Lichter, Frankfurt Zero, Galerie Denise Rene - Hans Mayer, Krefeld, Germany Dynamo Zero 1959 – 1969, Galerie Lichter, Frankfurt Objekte und Bildreliefs, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart L’oeil ecoute, Palais des Papes, Avignon Cinetisme, spectacle, environment, Maison de la Culture, Grenoble, France L’Art vivant 65/67, Fondation Maeght, Saint Paul de Vence, France Public Eye, Kunsthalle, Hamburg Aspeke 1, Galerie Heseler, Munich Avantgarde Zero 1966, Galleria il Segno, Rome Avantgarde Zero 1966, Galleria Associazione Zen, Brescia Zero op Zee, Galerie Orez, The Haag, Netherlands Konfrontation 66, Galerie Hildebrand, Klagenfurt Climat 66, Musee de Grenoble, France Zero Avantgarde, Galleria del Cavallino, Venedig, Germany Zero Avantgarde, Lucio Fontana’s Studio, Milan Zero, Galerie Actuel, Bern Nul=0, Galerie Delta, Rotterdam Ardoises, Papiers, Clous, Galerie Weiller, Paris Panorama de la Nouvelle Tendence, Galerie Amstel, Amsterdam Zero – der neue idealismus, Galerie Diogenes, Berlin Nul, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Zero, Galerie Schindler, Bern ZERO – Edition, Exposition, Demonstration, Galerie Schmela, Dusseldorf Zero, Galerie A, Arnheim, Netherlands Exposition datozero 1961, Galerie Dato, Frankfurt Aspect de l’Art Contemporain, Galerie d’exposition de l’Universite, Caen, France

SELECTED COLLECTIONS Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, Paris Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris Musée de Graz, Graz Archivio della Grazia di Nuova Scrittura, Milan Museo de Arte Moderno, Bolivar City, Venezuela Fonds National d’Art Contemporain – FNAC, Paris Frac Bourgogne, Dijon Musée du Château de Montbéliard, France Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix, Les Sables d’Olonne, France Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Saint-Priest, France Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon Musée des Beaux Arts, Valence Herbert Distel, Schubladenmuseum, Zurich Berardo Collection, Lisbon Liaunig Museum, Neuhaus, Austria Musée d’Art Moderne, Klagenfurt Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Caldic Collectie, Wassenar, The Netherlands Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf Wandel Collection, Reutlingen Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Duren Museum am Ostwall (Sammlung Cremer), Dortmund Sammlung Ludwig Museum, Koblenz Baden-Württembergische Bank, Stuttgart Stiftung fur Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen Kunstsammlung Landkreis, Reutlingen Kunstsammlung der Kreissparkasse, Reutlingen Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch Karlernst Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach

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