THE CONQUEST OF SPACE

JO DELAHAUT - DAN VAN SEVEREN
ANDRE BEULLENS - ALBERT RUBENS
GUY VANDENBRANDEN - GILBERT DECOCK
ZEPHIR BUSINE - FELIX HANNAERT
EXHIBITION  :   March 31 - May 13  2017
Open Wednesday to Saturday  2 - 6 PM or on appointment tél 02.539.23.09

Group 2 Gallery is pleased to announce its new exhibition "The Conquest of Space" highlighting the work of 8 important Belgian abstract artists      

Jo Delahaut

Jo Delahaut Blue 1984 Oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm

Dan Van Severen

André Beullens

Albert Rubens

Albert Rubens Composition 1978-1980 Acrylic on canvas 75 x 75 cm

Guy Vandenbranden

Felix Hannaert Abstract composition 1992 Oil on linen

Gilbert Decock

Gilbert Decock

Jo Delahaut ( Liège 1911 - Brussels 1992 ) was at the forefront of Geometric Abstraction in Belgium after World War II. He was the first member of the "Young Belgian Painters" ( 1945-1948 ) who decided in 1946 to make exclusively abstract works. Both as an artist and as a Professor his influence was essential. In 1952 he was co-founder, together with Pol Bury, Jean Milo, Georges Collignon a.o. of the group "Abstract Art" and in 1954 he published, with Pol Bury, the "Spatialism" manifest.

Dan Van Severen ( Lokeren 1927 - Ghent 2009 ) is best known for the recurring geometrical motives in his work such as squares,  rectangles, circles, ovals and cross forms with their intersections, which he all considered as universal signs.  His sober compositions are minimalist, meditative and even mystical. Van Severen continuously searched for the essence of art and life.

André Beullens ( Brussels 1930 - 1976 ) oeuvre can best be decribed as Optical Constructivism. He started as a surrealist painter but, since 1961, devoted himself exclusively to non-figurative paintings. His art was based on a sublime mixture of geometrisation and the treatment of colour. By altering the intensity of colour, his paintings evoke an illusionary world of unimpeded spaces, as limitless as the universe, as empty and airy as a Zen void. In 1971 Beullens switched towards vertical compositions, but continued to search new chromatic variations and to focus on subtle optical effects.

Guy Vandenbranden ( Brussels 1926 - 2014 ) started to paint constructivist works in the early 50's. In 1952 he joined the group "Abstract Art" founded by Delahaut, Bury, Collignon, Milo e.a. In 1956 he became a member of the group "Forms" with Delahaut, Séaux and Maurits Bilcke and in 1960 he was co-founder of "Art Construit", in tribute to french painter Auguste Herbin, together with Kurt Lewy, Victor Noël, Jean Rets, Paul Van Hoeydonck, Jacques Moeschal and Ferdinand Vonck. Vandenbranden uses geometric forms such as squares, cubes, triangles and beams and a wide range of colours in his work

Albert Rubens ( Tielt, West Flanders 1944 ) discovered in the second half of the 1960's the cube, not only as a flat surface but also on a three-dimensional level. Four distinctive features dominate his work.  First there is a geometrical and concrete language of images. Secondly Rubens has been painting ever since exclusively in black on a snow white surface. Thirdly Rubens uses mathematics when preparing his compositions and makes a detailed study in pencil in his notebook before starting to paint, mostly in acrylic on canvas. Finally, the artist invariably makes a whole series of works based on a very methodical approach.

Gilbert Decock was born in Knokke at the Belgian coast in 1928. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Bruges. Since the end of the 1950's the artist painted elementary forms such as circles, squares and triangles which are dialoguing on his canvases. His paintings and sculptures can be qualified as minimalist, ascetic, austere, symbolic, meditative and spiritual. In 1965 Decock became a founding member of the group "D 4" together with E. Bergen, V. Noël and M. Verdren. In 1967 Jo Delahaut joined the group whose name was changed into "Geoform". Decock executed several monumental projects in his long career for Distrigas, the Knokke Casino and the Metro station "Arts-Loi" in Brussels.
A fine monography about the artist by Dr Serge Goyens de Heusch was published by Lannoo ( Tielt, Belgium ) in 1995.

Felix Hannaert ( Brussels 1944 ) oscillates between geometric abstraction and minimalism. The artist aims to reach a state of serenity, using hereby a minimum of resources ( less is more ). He admires the work of american artist Barnett Newman.

Zéphir Busine was, together with a.o. Roger Dudant, one of the founders of the “Hainaut 5” group of artists. Read more.
Previous Exhibition : 3 poetic abstract artists : Decock, Greisch & Schrobiltgen  Read more

 

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