Date unknown, 1985: Francois Morellet: Systems, an exhibition of 42 works spanning thirty years of the artistic career of French artist Francois Morellet will open at The Brooklyn Museum on January 20, 1985 and be on view through March 25, 1985.
Francois Morellet, one of the widely acclaimed contemporary artists in Europe, is considered a leading pioneer of systematic and geometric abstract art. In the early 1950’s he worked with various concepts which later became dominant themes in the art of the 1960’s and the early 1970’s. Morellet has chosen geometric abstraction as the vehicle to express his creative ideas in painting, sculpture and elaborate environments. Consisting of geometric shapes, Morellet’s works are deceptively simple, achieving beauty and elegance in color and form.
Morellet has been the subject of major retrospectives in Europe, but this is the first major exhibition in North America. Organized by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and guest curated by Charlotta Kotik, the show will travel to The Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida.
Next year, a major retrospective of the artist’s work, based largely on the current exhibition, will be presented at the Musee National d’Art Moderne (Centre Georges Pompidou) in Paris.
Morellet’s works are in the permanent collections of major art museums in Europe, including the Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Musee National d’Art Moderne (Centre Georges Pompidou) in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
In conjunction with the exhibition a series of gallery talks has been scheduled. These talks, which will explore such topics as Morellet’s utilization of mathematical systems and nature and his interest in the demystification of art, will take place in the exhibition on the fifth floor on January 27, February 3 and 23, and March 10. All talks begin at 3 p.m. and are free with Museum admission. In addition, on February 24 there will be a workshop in the Education Studio on the first floor from 2 to 4 p.m. This program is also free with Museum admission, but space is limited to the first 30 people.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1985, 009.
