At over six feet high and ten feet long, this 2022 painting by German avant-garde artist Heinz Mack adds a dramatic burst of color to the cool metallic and minimal tones of the artist’s solo show at Almine Rech Gallery. Along with Otto Piene, Mack founded the artist collective ZERO to launch art into new directions post-WWII, avoiding popular expressive styles and focusing instead on light and motion. A small, monochromatic canvas from 1958 at the show’s entrance varies from heavier to lighter paint application in vertical bands, creating a vibrating effect. Around the corner, Mack amplifies the same sensation with aluminum sheet embossed into vertical grooves that reflect light and the colors of the larger, more recent paintings in the room. In a Almine Rech Gallery video, the 94-year-old Mack explains that these newer, vibrant works present color in its own space, each tone carrying its own amount of light. (On view through June 14th).
