






Konkrete Progressionen
François Morellet & Vera Molnar, Manfred Mohr & Hartmut Böhm
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|---|---|
| Editor(s) | Holger Kube Ventura |
| Author(s) | Holger Kube Ventura |
| Design | Thomas Schmid |
| Size | 19 x 21 cm |
| Cover | Softcover |
| Pages | 144 |
| Illustrations | 70 |
| Language(s) | German |
| ISBN | 978-3-96912-138-2 |
Thanks to a generous donor, the Kunstmuseum Reutlingen | konkret welcomed a number of outstanding works to its collection in 2022. Titled Konkrete Progressionen, the first exhibition to showcase a selection from the gift features four internationally renowned artists whose works are derived from mathematical or geometric procedures: the concrete systematists Hartmut Böhm (1938–2021) and François Morellet (1926–2016) and the pioneers of computer-generated art Manfred Mohr (1938–) and Vera Molnar (1924–).
The book documents the serial paintings, drawings, collages, wall objects, and monumental installations and environments of steel beams or concrete blocks. The works play concrete games with the beholder’s ability to recognize patterns in binary contrasts or layered grids. They show sine waves, vector series, hypercubes, and markings derived from the circular constant π or the Fibonacci sequence—and in each instance demonstrate primarily how the basis of calculation takes on a life of its own.
The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Reutlingen runs until April 14, 2024.
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MOVE!
Scheinbar kinetische Kunst 1926–202215€ Add to cartMOVE! at the Kunstmuseum Reutlingen | konkret brings together works that appear to flow, oscillate, tremble, or even implode. They challenge our visual perception by playing with grids, shifting lines, or moiré effects and by simulating kinetic movement, rhythm, and plasticity. Over 80 artworks, some of them serial, from the years 1926 to 2022, introduce the work of 46 artists from 14 countries. The spectrum includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, collage, screen prints, wall objects, and installation work. A focus of the selection is on Op Art, Constructivism, geometric Minimalism, and Conceptual Art since the 1990s. The book MOVE! accompanies this important exhibition, which was curated by Holger Kube Ventura.
Exhibition MOVE! Scheinbar kinetisch
Kunstmuseum Reutlingen | konkret
September 18, 2026 – Februar 28, 2027Opening: Thursday, September 17, 2026, 7 p.m.
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“Das Quadrat muss den Raum beherrschen!”
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ARTISTS:
JOSEF ALBERS, GÖTZ ARNDT, MAX BILL, AD DEKKERS, HELMUT FEDERLE, GOTTFRIED HONEGGER, KATHRIN KAPS, FRITZ KLINGBEIL, JOHN MEYER, GEROLD MILLER, AURÉLIE NEMOURS, JOHN NIXON, PETER ROEHR, JAN SCHOONHOVEN, ANTON STANKOWSKI, KLAUS STAUDT, HERMAN DE VRIES, GERHARD WITTNER
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Annette Messager
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Silke Eva Kästner
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JOHN BOCK
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