Xavier Hufkens Gallery: Giorgio Griffa | Luce buio, Brussels, Belgium

Giorgio Griffa | Luce buio
23|09 -  5 |11| 2022

Xavier Hufkens Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

 Xavier Hufkens is delighted to announce Luce buio, the gallery’s inaugural exhibition dedicated to the work of Italian abstract artist Giorgio Griffa (b.1936, Turin). From his early linear paintings of the mid-1960s to recent works from 2022, this presentation showcases all five decades of the artist’s career and highlights both the evolutions and constancies within an oeuvre that is
as eclectic as it is poetic.

 

Giorgio Griffa is primarily known for his painted canvases that are nailed directly to the wall — unprimed, unframed and unstretched — the majority of which are executed in a luminous palette of desaturated colours. The canvases are folded when not exhibited, which creates visible creases that become a vital part of the work. At first glance, it is hard to differentiate the paintings of fifty years ago with those made recently. A closer study of the oeuvre,however, reveals the existence of eleven major cycles, ranging from the Segni primari [primary marks] series of 1967 to the latest Dilemma paintings. Each corpus has a start date, but not an end. Furthermore, certain works belong to
more than one cycle, as different creative trajectories intersect and merge into each other. As the artist himself asserts, the cycles co-exist side by side, being neither stages of progress nor regression, but simply continuous variations of ‘becoming’. This latter word is crucial to understanding the oeuvre, for Griffa’s sequences of lines, patterns, letters and numbers are not just universal but also open-ended. Each work contains an element that could, in principle,
be continued indefinitely. Once the pattern is set, so to speak, we visually and mentally expect it to continue. When it doesn’t — and there is always a point at which a line, phrase or pattern seems to arbitrarily stop — we anticipate its prolongation, almost completing the sequence in our mind’s eye. Linguistically, it is analogous to stopping mid-sentence, leaving the interlocuter (in this case
the viewer) to pick up the train of thought. This makes the empty spaces in the works as important as the graphic elements themselves. What we see in Griffa’s canvases are analogous to small excerpts from potentially infinite patterns, just as the here and now is but one juncture in a far greater continuum.

 

Giorgio Griffa is both a painter and a lawyer. Until he retired from his legal practice, he devoted himself to his twin professions, a combination which takes us back to the renaissance ideal of ‘universal knowledge’. Related to this are the so-called seven liberal arts, which are divided into those of the word (grammar, logic and rhetoric; the trivium) and those of numbers (arithmetic,
music, astronomy and geometry; the quadrivium). As profoundly interconnected mechanisms for understanding nature and humanity, and as media for change and renewal, these disciplines were regarded as the components of a single encompassing ‘art’: the foundation of all learning. This once indivisible link between the realm of words and that of numbers runs like a leitmotif through
the various cycles in Griffa’s oeuvre, as seen in the distinct bodies of work depicting letters, phrases and quotes, and those departing from numerical principles, the Fibonacci sequence or the golden ratio, also known as the ‘irrational number’. Key to translating the ideas that spring from these inspiration sources, and countless other musical, historical and philosophical starting points both ancient and modern, is Griffa’s characteristically simple visual language involving archetypal signs: letters, numbers and lines. Nothing more, nothing less. Griffa does not paint what he sees, therefore, but what he thinks or, more specifically, what he knows. As he himself once said, “I do not represent anything, I paint.” This act of painting — using the lightest of all touches and ultra-fluid acrylic pigments — is thus a means of transmission, a way of articulating a deeply humanistic worldview that it is connected to every other field of knowledge. By conflating two passages from Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot, whom Griffa has long admired, we get close to the ideas embodied
in the work: “For the pattern is new in every moment / And every moment is a new and shocking / Valuation of all we have been [...] And so each venture / Is a new beginning.”

 

Giorgio Griffa (b. 1936, Turin; lives and works in Turin) initially completed a law degree in 1958 and became a practising lawyer. From 1960 to 1963, he learned how to paint by assisting the Italian painter Filippo Scroppo (1910-1993). Despite early associations with movements such as Arte Povera, pittura analitica [fundamental painting] and Minimalism, his work has always stood outside the mainstream currents in contemporary art. Giorgio Griffa participated in important international exhibitions such as Prospekt, Düsseldorf (1969 and 1974) and the Venice Biennale (1978, 1980 and in 2017) as well as Processes of Visualized Thought: Young Italian Avant-garde, Kunstmuseum Luzern (1970) and A Painting Exhibition of Painters who Place Painting in Question, curated by Michel Claura, Stadtische Museum, Monchengladbach (1973). Recent solo presentations of Giorgio Griffa’s works include Uno and Due, Galleria Civica d’Art Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin (2002), Neuer Kunstverein, Aschaffenburg (2005), MACRO, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2011), Golden Ratio, Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin (2013); A Continuous Becoming, Camden Art Centre, London (2018); Tutti i pensieri di tutti, Palazzo Collicola, Spoleto (2020-21); Marvels of the Unknown, LaM - Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, Villeneuve-d’Ascq (2021); La Recherche, Centre Pompidou (2022).

 44 rue Van Eyck, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
www.xavierhufkens.com + 32(0)2 639 67 30

 

BRAFA ART FAIR | BRUSSELES | BELGIUM

BRAFA ART FAIR 

BRUSSELS , BELGIUM

Sunday, January 29^th to Sunday, February 5^th  2023 | Brussels Expo

 

BRAFA Art Fair is back in January and stands as the first major art fair of the year in the calendar. The 68th edition of BRAFA will take place from Sunday, January 29^th to Sunday, February 5^th at Brussels Expo at the Heysel in Halls 3 and 4, where 130 exhibitors will be taking over the entire space.

 

 
BRAFA will be the first major European art fair to visit in 2023, positioning it, as per tradition, as a true barometer of the art market. The 68th edition of BRAFA will take place from Sunday, January 29th to Sunday, February 5th at Brussels Expo at the Heysel in Halls 3 and 4, where 130 exhibitors will be taking over the entire space. This venue, the new setting for BRAFA since June, was greatly
appreciated by its visitors at the last event, both for the openness of its aisles and for the very pleasant atmosphere that reigned there.
Harold t’Kint de Roodenbeke, the Chairman of BRAFA, explains: “We had a kind of trial gallop with a first BRAFA outside of our usual standards, since we proposed an event in a new space and at a different time due to a disrupted schedule. January will therefore be both a return to normality in terms of dates and also the writing of a new page in our history with Brussels Expo. Our current goal is to get back to our rhythm and our loyal customers, whilst developing the potential of the space.”
For this 2023 edition, a theme has been chosen in correlation with the initiative of the Brussels-Capital Region, which will make 2023 a year devoted to Art Nouveau. BRAFA will be highlighting this movement in several ways. The King Baudouin Foundation and some galleries specialised in this field
will be presenting exceptional Art nouveau pieces. The creation of the BRAFA 2023 carpet will be based on original drawings by Victor Horta, and art lovers will be able to attend two “BRAFA Art
 

Talks” devoted to Art nouveau.

One will be led by Professor Werner Adriaenssens, Curator of the Twentieth-Century Collections at the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, and the other by Benjamin Zurstrassen, Curator at the Horta Museum.

BRAFA’s 2023 edition will see the return of several galleries
The Fair strengthens the development of its international reputation through the quality and diversity of its galleries. Of the 130 exhibitors, 65% are based abroad. Christian Vrouyr, the General Secretary of BRAFA, says: “For over sixty years, BRAFA has stimulated the development of participating galleries, first at the national level, and then on the international scene. The Fair, which
began as a local event, has been able to find the right tone over the years, making it possible to extend contacts with international customers.”
For this 68th edition, a number of galleries have confirmed their return, including the Galerie de la Présidence (FR), which will be presenting a selection of masters from the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries such as Buffet, Derain, Dufy, Giacometti, Maillol, Matisse, Poliakoff, Vlaminck and Vuillard.
Collectors who have already visited BRAFA will also recognise the Galerie von Vertes (CH), specialised in modern and contemporary art, which will be offering exceptional pieces by Albers, Calder, Chamberlain, Francis, Kusama, Lichtenstein, Miro, Poliakoff, Richter, Relief, Warhol and Wesselman.

Also worth mentioning is the presence of Morentz (NL), a gallery specialised in twentieth-century design furniture, which brings together works from all over the world and showcases designers such as George Nakashima, Phillip Lloyd Powell, José Zanine Caldas, and Gio Ponti.Included in the 2023 list of participants, the Osborne Samuel Gallery (UK), one of the leading specialists in modern British paintings and sculptures in London, is particularly focused on the works
of Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick and Barbara Hepworth, and the school of London painters such as Auerbach and Kossoff; abstract post-war artists such as Pasmore, Heath and Frost, and the neo-romanticists Sutherland, Vaughan, Craxton and Clough.The Bernier/Eliades Gallery (GR/BE), based in Athens and Brussels, specialises in contemporary art(Arte Povera, Minimalism, Land Art, Conceptual Art). It will be presenting works by Susan Rothenberg and Berta Fischer to visitors at the Fair.Finally, three Belgian galleries, whose reach extends far beyond national borders, will be returning to BRAFA in 2023: Guy Pieters Gallery (BE), whose success is based on its long-standing collaborationswith artists (the one developed with Christo recently enabled the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe inParis). De Brock Gallery (BE), founded in 1991, promoting established contemporary artists such as Imi Knoebel, Julian Opie, Dan Walsh and Terry Winters, with an emphasis on abstract painting.Bernard De Leye, specialised in antique silverware, is one of the finest connoisseurs in this field. He has been in the profession since 1977 and presents unique pieces of European silverware, mainly Belgian and French, from the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

9 new galleries will be joining BRAFA
Two galleries specialised in ancient art will be making their entrance at BRAFA. Franck Anelli Fine Art (FR) will be presenting ancient Flemish, Dutch and French paintings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, as well as rare inlaid furniture from the golden period of the Parisian eighteenth century. Ars Antiqua, based in Milan, will be exhibiting ancient paintings, furniture and sculptures.
Another newcomer is Van der Meij Fine Arts (NL), a specialist in nineteenth-century European art.Their collection ranges from Northern European Romanticism, with works by J.C. Dahl, Thomas Fearnley, Skovgaard and Peder Balke, to Scandinavian Symbolism (Hammershøi, Ilsted, Holsøe, L.A.
Ring), by way of Dutch painting (e.a. Jan Weissenbruch and Willem Witsen).
The design furniture section has been expanded with the addition of three new galleries, including the Galerie Pascal Cuisinier (FR), specialised in French design between 1951 and 1961, which represents Pierre Guariche, Joseph-André Motte, Michel Mortier, Antoine Philippon & Jacqueline Lecoq, amongst others. Galerie Van den Bruinhorst (NL) will offer historic art and design objects
from the twentieth century. The collection contains remarkable objects that played an important role in art and design at the time they were created. New Hope Gallery, from Belgium, will present a set of masterpieces from the history of furniture in the second half of the twentieth century, including works by American and Danish designers such as Paul Evans and Phillip Lloyd Powell, Poul
Henningsen, Poul Kjærholm, and Finn Juhl.VKD Jewels (NL) will be joining the jewellery section of the fair. The gallery, located in Uden in the
Netherlands, has a collection which includes a unique range of fine and rare jewellery from the world’s leading designers from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Bulgari, Buccellati, Tiffany and David Webb. Also amongst the new exhibitors, collectors will be able to discover the Parisian gallery Nicolas Bourriaud (FR), specialised in nineteenth and early-twentieth century French sculpture, which will be exhibiting the works of the greatest sculptors such as Barye, Joseph Bernard, Bugatti, Dalou, Guyot,
Rodin, Pompon and Sandoz. Finally, the Librairie Amélie Sourget (FR) will join the specialists in rare and precious books in the fields of the history of ideas, travelogues and beautiful illustrated books.

Organised by the Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique asbl
Bureaux – Royal Depot
Avenue du Port 86 C boîte 2A I BE-1000 Brussels
t. +32 (0)2 513 48 31
www.brafa.art