Max Bill, Robert Boegli, Maggie Brun, Francesco Camponovo, Andreas Christen, Herbert Distel, Rita Ernst, Arend Fuhrmann, Hans Jörg Glattfelder, Max Grauli, Andreas Green, Hermanus, Marguerite Hersberger, Elena Lux-Marx, Susanne Lyner, Beat Maeschi, Christiane Maier Reinhard, Christian Mengelt, Heidi Mertens, Reinhart Morscher, Willy Müller-Brittnau, Werner von Mutzenbecher, Jean Pfaff, Rolf Rappaz, Ruedi Reinhard, Hans Rémond, Betha Sarasin, Jean Scheurer, Willi Schoder, Maya Stange, Armin Vogt, Gido Wiederkehr, Eva Wohlleben.
2/7-19/9 2020
Rappaz Museum | Basel | Switzerland
The exhibition brings together a constellation of artists who, across generations, have engaged with concrete and geometric abstraction as living languages rather than fixed historical styles. Drawing on a wide range of practices from mid‑20th century modernism through to contemporary explorations, the show highlights how constructive principles continue to inform artistic inquiry into colour, form, rhythm and spatial relationships. It presents a spectrum of works — paintings, reliefs, objects and systems — that treat geometry as an expressive field where logic and perception intersect.
Central to this landscape of constructive art is the legacy of figures such as Max Bill, whose early advocacy of “Art concret” helped define an approach to abstraction grounded in clarity, proportion and harmonic measure. Bill’s influence resonates in the way formal order and visual balance are foregrounded in many of the works on display, creating a dialogue between historical foundations and later developments in abstract practice.
Some artists in the exhibition explore the sculptural potential of geometric systems. For example, the sharply delineated volumes and distilled forms seen in works by Rolf Rappaz and Hans Rémond articulate a rigorous engagement with space and structure. Their pieces often emphasise the materiality of constructivist ideas, transforming planar elements into dynamic compositions that suggest movement and balance without resorting to figuration. Other contributors take a more perceptual or optical approach: compositions by Maggie Brun or Marguerite Hersberger, for instance, utilise colour modulation and repetition to activate the viewer’s visual experience, creating subtle vibrational effects that emphasise the act of seeing as part of the work itself.
Contemporary voices within the group further expand these concerns. Francesco Camponovo’s contributions often negotiate between precision and play, deploying geometric systems that echo architectural logic while remaining open to improvisation. In parallel, Eva Wohlleben and Maya Stange integrate constructive strategies with explorations of surface and pattern, allowing systematic forms to resonate with personal and aesthetic nuance.
What unites this wide range of practices is a shared belief in geometry as a conceptual and perceptual tool — not merely a visual style, but a framework for organising experience. Whether through disciplined order or rhythmic modulation, the works on view demonstrate how concrete principles can generate a rich variety of visual outcomes. In doing so, the exhibition illustrates that geometric abstraction remains a fertile ground for artistic thought, capable of bridging historical movements and contemporary explorations into how form, colour and space shape our perception.