The Square’s Heart

The term “concrete art” was coined by the Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg in 1930, referring to works of art that are exclusively based on purely “plastic” elements, such as color, line and plane, thereby forming an independent “concrete” reality. Accompanied by a new interest in how we perceive and process visual impressions, insights from perception psychology have been artistically explored to create dynamic and ’living’ images.

Over the past 50 years, the Norwegian art collector Erling Neby has built an extraordinary collection of geometric and concrete art. Encompassing European, American and Nordic art, the main focus is on works from the post-war years, including leading figures such as Victor Vasarely, Max Bill, Auguste Herbin, Josef Albers, Aase Texmon Rygh and Olle Baertling, as well as new generations of artists who, in different ways, use a geometric-abstract form of expression. This catalogue documents a major exhibition at the Kode Art Museum in Bergen featuring more than 100 works from the collection, which–through its truly personal selection–offers a complex picture of artistic positions, and the impact of geometric and concrete art.