With their battle cry "Zero is the beginning. Zero is round. Zero is
Zero," the ZERO artists anticipated Land art, Minimalism and Conceptual
art
ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s-60s is the first large-scale
historical survey in the United States dedicated to the German artist
group Zero (1957-66). The group was founded by Heinz Mack and Otto
Piene, who were joined by Günther Uecker in 1961, and ZERO, an
international network of like-minded artists from Europe, Japan and
North and South America--including Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Yayoi
Kusama, Piero Manzoni, Almir Mavignier, Jan Schoonhoven and Jesús Rafael
Soto--who shared their aspirations to redefine art in the aftermath of
World War II. The catalogue explores the experimental practices
developed by the more than 30 artists from nine countries featured in
the show, whose work anticipated aspects of Land art, Minimalism and
Conceptual art. The publication is organized around points of
intersection, exchange and collaboration that defined these artists'
shared history. Among the themes explored are the establishment of new
definitions of painting; the introduction of movement and light as both
formal and idea-based aspects of art; the use of space as subject and
material; the interrogation of the relationship between nature,
technology and humankind; and the production of live actions or
demonstrations. At once a snapshot of a specific group and a portrait of
a generation, this book celebrates the pioneering nature of both the art
and the transnational vision advanced by the ZERO network.
