DUSSELDORF.- Heinz Mack became famous as an artist and co-founder of the internationally influential artist group ZERO primarily through his light reliefs and light installations. Less known is his extensive graphic oeuvre on which he himself comments, ‘For me, graphic art is a language without words, a perfect poetic language with its own syntax, intonation and rhythm. Pure visual poetry, as it contains no rational meaning.’ The medium of drawing grants the artist a high degree of spontaneity; at the same time the artist appreciates the inner logic and discipline which become apparent in a good drawing. This is also why Mack described his works on paper as the ‘grammar’ of his art: ‘I believe that the lines condense into an energy filed, a structure in which all parts, all elements are indissolubly connected with each other and set in vibration or motion when we contemplate them with sensibility, calmness and open-minded interest.’

Focusing on the graphic oeuvre museum kunst illuminates a rarely shown, as yet largely unpublished facet of this versatile artist. The exhibition includes a concentrated selection of pencil, quill, ink drawings and pastels.

Heinz Mack was born in 1931 in Lollar, Hessen, attended the National Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf 1950-1953 (state examination) and in 1956 completed his studies in philosophy with the state examination at the University of Cologne.

Together with Otto Piene he founded the Gruppe ZERO in Düsseldorf in 1957.

One year later Mack participated in the Documenta II in Kassel and received the Art Award of the city of Krefeld.

Mack received the Premio Marzotto. 1964 - 1966 Mack had an atelier in New York and took part in the Documenta III.

In 1965 the artist was honoured with the 1st Prix arts plastiques of the 4th Biennale de Paris.

In 1970 he was appointed Professor and invited to lecture in Osaka (Japan) and becomes a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, which he remained until 1992.

At the XXXV Biennale in Venice in the same year, he represented Western Germany together with Uecker, Pfahler and Lenk.

1962-1968 and 1976 were times of large working expeditions into the Algerian desert and to the Arctic.

He received the first prize in the international competition Licht 79 in the Netherlands in 1979.

1992 brought the Great Culture Award from the Rheinischen Sparkassen-Verbandes.

In 2004 the artist was awarded the Große Bundesverdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in recognition of his works and his commitment as a cultural representative.

In 2007 the Museum of Islamic Art in Pergamonmuseum in Berlin honoured him with a large exhibition which was visited by around 120,000 people.

Heinz Mack's central artistic theme is light. His sculptures and paintings are a medium for transporting light.

His complete abstract works are very diverse: Sculptures from various materials, also monumental ones for outdoors, light pillars, light rotors, light reliefs and light cubes; paintings such as the Dynamischen Strukturen from the ZERO times from 1957-1966 and the increasingly large format and strongly coloured paintings as of 1991, the so-called Chromatischen Konstellationen.

Drawings, ink drawings, pastels, prints, and literary works, abstract photography with black and white hand prints and colour photography produced in the Slide-Sec process. Design of public squares and rooms, also church interiors, stage settings and mosaics.

His works have been shown in around 300 solo exhibitions to this date.