Hermann Goepfert
Biography
Hermann Goepfert, born in 1926 in Bad Nauheim, works mainly in Frankfurt am Main. He is considered one of the most important representative artists of the ZERO movement. Having completed his studies at the Städelschule (1947 - 1958) he turns to non-objective painting. His monochrome white pictures, painted as from 1960, attracted great interest. International artists come to the city on the river Main in the 1960's, in order to exchange ideas with Goepfert or to work with him. Amongst his artist friends are Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni and Jef Verheyen. From the beginning of the 1960's he takes part in important presentations linked to the ZERO group, such as in the exhibition NUL at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam or the documenta III in Kassel. Both in Kassel and at the subsequent international ZERO exhibitions he presents aluminium reflectors. Goepfert was mainly occupied with natural light as visual material and experimented with metals, which due to their smooth surface reflect light better than canvas. With the aim to increase the integration of space, he successively replaced canvas by metal. In 1965, Goepfert formed a planning partnership for new forms of environment (Planungsgemeinschaft für neue Formen der Umwelt) with architect Johannes Peter Hölzinger in order to put his creative ideas into architectural practice. An early example of such an integration of art and architecture within the ZERO movement are the objects and object architectures erected by the partnership in 1965-1967 in the Schlosspark in Karlsruhe for the National Horticultural Show (Bundesgartenschau). In 1967 the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels dedicates a solo exhibition to him where he showed static and kinetic works created after the white pictures. The focus of that exhibition is again on the artistic handling of light. In 1971 Goepfert moves to Antwerp. Ever since his early death – Goepfert died suddenly in Antwerp in 1982 – his works have been shown in the ZERO context. In 1987 a retrospective entitled Goepfert and ZERO – ZERO and Goepfert took place at the Frankfurter Kunstverein. Some of his works were shown in 2014 at the big ZERO exhibition held by the Guggenheim Museum New York in cooperation with the ZERO Foundation, Dusseldorf and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. A comprehensive monography was published by Hatje Cantz in 2015.
Exhibitions (Selection)
1962 Participation in the exhibition NUL at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam | 1964 Participation in the documenta III, Kassel | 1967 Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels | 1979 Participation in the exhibition ZERO, Bildvorstellungen einer europäischen Avantgarde 1958-1964 at the Kunsthaus Zurich | 1987 Retrospective Goepfert and ZERO - ZERO and Goepfert at the Kunstverein Frankfurt am Main | 2005 L’Œil moteur- Art optique et cinétique, 1950-1975 - Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCS), Strasbourg | 2008 ZERO lebt – europäische Avantgarde der 50er und 60er Jahre - Kunsthalle Weishaupt | 2011 "Hermann Goepfert. Licht als Vision - Bilder und Werke aus den 1950er bis 1970er Jahren", Galerie Dierking, Cologne | 2015 Group show “ZERO – The International Art Movement oft he 50ies and 60ies“, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin Group show “ZERO – Let Us Explore the Stars“, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–60s, Guggenheim Museum, New York | 2016 Art after 1945 - 1968, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe | 2017 Le socle du monde Biennale, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark / Malerisch, Dierking, Zurich | 2021 Group show Sign 0’ the Times - Lucio Fontana, Hermann Goepfert, Jef Verheyen, Dierking, Zurich.
Hermann Goepfert
Biography
Hermann Goepfert, born in 1926 in Bad Nauheim, works mainly in Frankfurt am Main. He is considered one of the most important representative artists of the ZERO movement. Having completed his studies at the Städelschule (1947 - 1958) he turns to non-objective painting. His monochrome white pictures, painted as from 1960, attracted great interest. International artists come to the city on the river Main in the 1960's, in order to exchange ideas with Goepfert or to work with him. Amongst his artist friends are Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni and Jef Verheyen. From the beginning of the 1960's he takes part in important presentations linked to the ZERO group, such as in the exhibition NUL at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam or the documenta III in Kassel. Both in Kassel and at the subsequent international ZERO exhibitions he presents aluminium reflectors. Goepfert was mainly occupied with natural light as visual material and experimented with metals, which due to their smooth surface reflect light better than canvas. With the aim to increase the integration of space, he successively replaced canvas by metal. In 1965, Goepfert formed a planning partnership for new forms of environment (Planungsgemeinschaft für neue Formen der Umwelt) with architect Johannes Peter Hölzinger in order to put his creative ideas into architectural practice. An early example of such an integration of art and architecture within the ZERO movement are the objects and object architectures erected by the partnership in 1965-1967 in the Schlosspark in Karlsruhe for the National Horticultural Show (Bundesgartenschau). In 1967 the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels dedicates a solo exhibition to him where he showed static and kinetic works created after the white pictures. The focus of that exhibition is again on the artistic handling of light. In 1971 Goepfert moves to Antwerp. Ever since his early death – Goepfert died suddenly in Antwerp in 1982 – his works have been shown in the ZERO context. In 1987 a retrospective entitled Goepfert and ZERO – ZERO and Goepfert took place at the Frankfurter Kunstverein. Some of his works were shown in 2014 at the big ZERO exhibition held by the Guggenheim Museum New York in cooperation with the ZERO Foundation, Dusseldorf and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. A comprehensive monography was published by Hatje Cantz in 2015.
Exhibitions (Selection)
1962 Participation in the exhibition NUL at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam | 1964 Participation in the documenta III, Kassel | 1967 Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels | 1979 Participation in the exhibition ZERO, Bildvorstellungen einer europäischen Avantgarde 1958-1964 at the Kunsthaus Zurich | 1987 Retrospective Goepfert and ZERO - ZERO and Goepfert at the Kunstverein Frankfurt am Main | 2005 L’Œil moteur- Art optique et cinétique, 1950-1975 - Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCS), Strasbourg | 2008 ZERO lebt – europäische Avantgarde der 50er und 60er Jahre - Kunsthalle Weishaupt | 2011 "Hermann Goepfert. Licht als Vision - Bilder und Werke aus den 1950er bis 1970er Jahren", Galerie Dierking, Cologne | 2015 Group show “ZERO – The International Art Movement oft he 50ies and 60ies“, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin Group show “ZERO – Let Us Explore the Stars“, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–60s, Guggenheim Museum, New York | 2016 Art after 1945 - 1968, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe | 2017 Le socle du monde Biennale, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark / Malerisch, Dierking, Zurich | 2021 Group show Sign 0’ the Times - Lucio Fontana, Hermann Goepfert, Jef Verheyen, Dierking, Zurich.
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