Fred Sandback

Galerie Greta Meert is pleased to present the fifth exhibition (1998, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2016) of Fred Sandback (1943, USA, - 2003,USA).

The present exhibition pays attention to sculptures and several works on paper dating from the 70’s and the 90’s. The works on paper are important as they share a speculative and documentary relationship with his sculptures. From the very beginning of his artistic career he created multipart vertical sculptures. The vertical constructions are visible in his works on paper from 1977, Untitled (from an untitled portfolio) which are lithographs on handmade paper with cut edge illustrating U-shaped constructions.
A ‘Freestanding sculpture’, Untitled (Sculptural Study, Lannan Foundation) will be shown in the center of the ground floor, within the four columns. This is a “Mikado” (pick-up sticks) construction refers to the Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe New Mexico where the sculptor had a solo exhibition in 1999.

The delicate line structures by Fred Sandback sculpt space. By handling the woolen yarn as the ‘sculptural equivalent of a N° 2 pencil’. He introduces simplicity, lightness and precision in his work. Sandback’s line is both an outline of a geometrical shape and a virtual cutting line that influences existing spatial proportions and defines new spatial plans. It embodies the continuous interplay between presence and absence, form and volume, tension and harmony.

Although the relationship with the Minimal Art movement seems obvious, it is not as simple as it may appear. The ‘String Sculptures’ emphasize the immateriality of the pictorial means, rather than the objective character. Furthermore the installations are as minimal in structure and maximal in their spatial implications.