About the work
Mack develops his colours from a dark violet through an intense blue and a brilliant pink toward a radiant rose-red in this Small Colour Chromaticiscm. The colours are composed on top of one another in horizontal stripes, whereby these transitions from one colour aspect to the next in the lower section of the painting through interlocking are still clearly recognisable. These then appear nearly flowing in the top half of the painting. The dark colour shades at the lower edge of the painting demonstrate a quiet and withdrawn character, which Mack juxtaposes in the top half with an almost irrepressible and visually joyous incandescence. As a consequence, the work acquires a strong opening upward, is oriented to higher realms, so to speak. The use of pastel chalks lends the entire composition a nearly haptic expression. The pigments appear to nearly float on the handmade paper, powdery and light, which also lends the sheet a pronounced sense of depth. The co-founder of the ZERO movement also unfurls his entire knowledge of the charisma of colour in his small-format works. His life theme is the harmony of light and colour.
Text authored and provided by Dr Andrea Fink, art historian
The art historian, curator and freelance publicist Andrea Fink studied art history, cultural studies and humanities, modern history and philosophy in Bochum and Vienna. Doctorate in 2007 on the work of the Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay. As a freelance curator and art consultant, her clients include, among others, the Kunstverein (art association) Ahlen, Kunstverein Soest, Wella Museum, Museum am Ostwall Dortmund, ThyssenKrupp AG, Kulturstiftung Ruhr, Osthaus Museum Hagen, Franz Haniel GmbH, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria.
