7243 - Mack, Heinz

Mack, Heinz Vibration White oil pastel on black vellum. 1961. 64.5 x 50.5 cm. Signed "Mack" in white chalk and dated at the bottom center. Through the use of grid-like structures, the artist sets the colored surface into vibration and oscillation. Minimal shifts prevent these structures from ever appearing entirely regular, ensuring that his hand remains palpable throughout. “Structure” here is both content and form. This term encompasses both the artist’s creative approach and his intention: the idea of a composition created through a uniform, surface-covering system of homogeneous structural elements. The frottage technique transfers the structure of the grid beneath the picture ground onto the black paper by rubbing with white chalk. It is precisely its simplicity—both in terms of structure and the production process, which still conveys a sense of playful experimentation—that gives this early work its special appeal. As a co-founder of the artists’ collective “ZERO,” Mack became, starting in 1958, a leading member of an avant-garde movement that, throughout Europe, opposed the artistic movements of Informel and Tachism with new artistic principles such as monochromaticism, seriality, and structure. As co-founders of the group, he, along with nail artist Günther Uecker and light artist Otto Piene, set postwar art on a completely new course. Provenance: Vanderkindere, Brussels, auction January 20, 2021, Lot 430 Private collection, Hesse - Please request condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.