Piero Manzoni

Colin Huizing

As one of the greatest pioneers of international conceptual art, Italian artist Piero Manzoni (1933-1963) maintained strong ties with the Netherlands. The unlocking of his intensive correspondence with Rotterdam gallery owner Hans Sonnenberg has revealed the extent of Manzoni's influence on the post-war avant-garde in the Netherlands.0During his short artistic career Piero Manzoni produced more than a thousand canvases, sculptures and other objects. He radically rejected the conventional context of the work of art, even integrating the body of the artist in the work. He also created so-called Achromes, literally: ?without colour.? Manzoni considered the surface of the canvas to be a space of unlimited possibilities. It no longer accommodated the illusion of the painted representation, or the artist's personal expressive gesture, but it became an autonomous entity instead. Manzoni's work was of great influence on artists associated with the Dutch nul-groep and the international ZERO movement.0'Manzoni in Holland' is the untold story of the special relationship that one of the most prominent avant-garde artists of the twentieth century had with the Netherlands.00Exhibition: Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, The Netherlands (18.02.-02.06.2019).

Manzoni in Holland

Tijs Visser

The "nul" movement was formed in 1961 by Armando, Jan Henderikse, Henk Peeters and Jan Schoonhoven. Their work marked a radical turning point in the development of post-war visual art. The artists collaborated on manifestos, exhibitions, happenings and publications in fluid groupings. Internationally they sought contact with like-minded groups in Germany (Zero), France (Nouveau Réalisme), Italy (Azimuth) and Japan (Gutai), as well as with individual artists, such as Yves Klein and Lucio Fontana. Collectively they set the tone for the artistic climate in Europe in the 1960s, producing work in which phenomena such as light, water, fire, movement and seriality played an important part. Exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam from 11 September 2011 to 22 January 2012, organized in association with the Zero Foundation, Düsseldorf..

Colin Huizing

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