François Morellet

After discovering Max Bill’s work during his travels to Brazil in 1950 and 1951, Morellet decided to embark upon the path opened up by concrete art. In 1952, a visit to the Alhambra convinced him to abandon any notion of composition. From that point on, he adopted an elementary geometric vocabulary and developed creative methods that left no scope for subjectivity, using pre-established procedures applied in a neutral and precise manner. In reaction to the lyrical abstraction that was dominant at the time, he sought to remove all expressiveness and embraced a programmed and systematic art. Placing the figure of the inspired artist back in the closet, he sought to limit both his sensibility and the number of decisions to be made in the conception of works, which logically led him to return to chance. Over the decades, in a narrative that would lead him to dialogue with concrete art, then with minimalism, of which he was a precursor in many aspects, Morellet became gradually more interested in the painting as an object, placing it in relation with the wall and even the surrounding space. In this sense, he can be considered one of the main figures in a form of modernist classicism, a disciple of the power of rules, a partisan of a poetics of reason.

However, at the turn of the 1960s, Morellet realised that his creative plans sometimes led to optical aberrations. He got involved with the experimentations of G.R.A.V. (Visual Art Research Group), becoming one of the major representatives of op art (in fact, Vasarely was one of the first to acquire one of his paintings), an aesthetic that places emphasis on the destabilisation of the gaze and the instability of perception. Op art can be considered the baroque moment in the history of geometric abstraction. With Morellet, the op movement would find an unexpected ally in his Neo-Dadaist spirit, sustained in part by a long exchange with chance and its virtues. In his work, the proud, literalist neon light of minimalism and Dan Flavin would therefore often become the companion of the gaps that the artist himself would pleasantly associate with rococo. In other words, optical folly and derision are one of the dimensions making up Morellet’s art, as are rules. It would be highly reductive to see Morellet as the artist who simply introduced a little humour into the kingdom of concrete art. No, his work is completely founded on ambivalence.

A catalogue published by Éditions du Centre Pompidou accompanies the exhibition. Introduced by an essay from the curator, it specifically interrogates the international nature of Morellet’s career.

Curated by
Curator of Contemporary Collections, Centre Pompidou - Musée national d'art moderne
Michel Gauthier