Helmut Federle - XLVII Biennale Venedig

Helmut Federle (1944-)

Catalogue Venice Biennale 1997

The paintings of Swiss artist Helmut Federle are deemed pure exercises for the gaze. A graduate from the School of Applied Arts in Basel, Federle is interested not only in American abstract art, which he first came across in local museums, but also in the cultures he experienced during his travels in India, Afghanistan and Nepal. Later, other journeys encouraged him to discover the cultures of South America. During the 1970s, while Federle was still hesitating between art and rock music, his painting wavered between figuration and abstraction.
In 1977 he began to concentrate on geometric painting that is formally situated between Concrete art and Colour Field, but which represented for him a way to express a deep spiritual quest. Profoundly influenced by Buddhism, Federle tries to formulate answers and create meaning through his pictorial propositions. While not very prolific in his artistic production, the artist refined and reduced his vocabulary of forms and colours during his four-year stay in New York from 1979 onwards.
ref. Collection Mudam Luxembourg