We are pleased to return to TEFAF Maastricht with a selection of important modern and contemporary works by Pierre Alechinsky, Ross Bleckner, Chu Teh-Chun, Ron Gorchov, Peter Halley, Keith Haring, George Mathieu, Tony Matelli, Joan Miró, Paul Mogensen, Hermann Nitsch, Kenneth Noland, Gérard Schneider, and Takis.
Chu Teh-Chun’s work is defined by its fusion of traditional Chinese painting with Western-style abstraction. Crépuscule (1973) is a prime example of Chu’s abstract work and masterful use of color. Translated as ‘Twilight’, the painting portrays the dramatic moment when the day is at the cusp of being consumed by darkness: gestural brushstrokes rendered in deep crimsons, vivid yellows, and fiery oranges, are flanked by black. Today Chu is one of the most sought-after Chinese artists in the market and is collected in over 50 prestigious institutions worldwide.
As a groundbreaking artist, Ron Gorchov bridged sculpture and abstract painting, developing a singular artistic vocabulary over decades of practice. He belonged to a generation of painters who removed their canvases from the rectangular stretcher seeking a new pictorial field. His hybrid painting sculptures created new dimensions and depth that sought to disorient the viewer’s perception. Spike (1979), is exemplary of Gorchov’s saddle-shaped canvases and demonstrates his signature rendering of biomorphic forms on a concave surface.
Better known under his pseudonym Takis, Panagiotis Vassilakis was a leading figure of the kinetic art movement in the 1960s. He gave life to his works, uniting art and science through metallic instruments subject to gravity and magnetic fields. Takis’ interest in ancient Greek theater, music, and culture inspired him to create works that could also “perform” like actors or musicians. This began with an early ‘Signals’ series feature metallic weights balanced on piano strings susceptible to movement only with force. Later sculptures departed from this idea and began to move and create music on their own, like in Musical (1966), thanks to the integration of electric currents.
Using the principle of arithmetic progression as a generative, compositional device, Paul Mogensen's works are created through a sequence of consecutive forms based on a mathematical 'constant' (i.e., n + 1), a principle at the root of harmonics. This application encourages the eye to travel across his canvases in a systematic way, as in No Title (Single Spiral) (1978) which follows a multi-colored line that drifts off the circular plane. In 1967 he participated in the legendary Bykert Gallery group exhibition that heralded the arrival of the Minimalist aesthetic along with colleagues Carl Andre, Brice Marden, Robert Mangold, Agnes Martin, and David Novros.
