Lot 25 Dα

In “Dynamischen Strukturen” from the late 1950s, Heinz Mack had already abandoned an individually structured composition in favour of a structure of serially executed formal elements covering the entire surface of the painting. This reduction and objectification allowed the artist’s personal handwriting to recede and, on the small irregularities of the painting surface, light began to take on a life of its own. A stringent further development of these structures are the “light reliefs”, which, as a kind of frottage on metal, fully elevate light to the determining element. ‘An unexpected possibility to make aesthetic movement visible ensued when I accidentally stepped on a thin metal foil lying on a sisal carpet. When I picked up the foil, the light had the opportunity to vibrate [...] My metal reliefs, which I prefer to call light reliefs, need light instead of colours in order to live [...] The possible beauty of these structures would be a pure expression of the beauty of light.’ (Heinz Mack, cited in: Sehverwandtschaften im Werk von Heinz Mack, exhib. cat. Galerie Neher, Essen 1989, p.80).