All right

In the history of visual art, the grid first emerged as an autonomous visual theme with the development of geometric abstraction at the beginning of the 20th century. In Piet Mondrian’s paintings, it becomes a defining compositional element. The Dutch artist does not predetermine or calculate the structure of his works; rather, he seeks a harmonious, balanced relationship between line, plane, and color as he works. Building on this, the exhibition showcases the rich variety of seemingly simple structural principles in the second half of the 20th century. The print portfolios by Max Bill and Attila Kovács, for example, are based on precise, interrelated systems with a square as the starting point for their explorations. In Bill’s work, the arrangement of the colored squares on a sheet is identical; only the distribution of the black and white areas varies freely, creating a dynamic visual impression. Rhythm and repetition become two important design principles in Op Art works and also play a significant role as grid points in the works of Roy Lichtenstein and Sigmar Polke.