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Construction with Aluminium Plates
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? The Estate of Steven Gilbert

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Construction with Aluminium Plates 1954
In about 1953 Gilbert moved away from painting to creating three-dimensional orthogonal constructions. He joined the Groupe Espace and with Constant, Nicholas Schöffer and architect Claude Parent formed a subsidiary group called Neovision. Strongly influenced by De Stijl ideas, they aimed to destroy closed volumes and activate open spaces by means of coloured planes. Though uncoloured, this aluminium construction by Gilbert with its play of positive and negative planes is arranged to encourage the viewer to move from one façade to the next.

Glossary Open

Façade

The external face of a building, usually referring to the most important, such as that facing the street or containing the main entrance.

Plane

A plane is a flat surface within a drawing, painting or sculpture.

Stijl, De (The Style)

The name of a Dutch art and design journal edited by Theo van Doesburg from 1917 to 1932 and the movement associated with it, which included Piet Mondrian. They were concerned with finding a harmonious balance in life and art, and the associated visual style is simple abstraction, characterised by strong horizontal and vertical lines and primary colours.

Façade, Plane, Stijl, De (The Style)

Details

  • Acc. No. GMA 5049
  • Medium Aluminium and steel
  • Size 95.00 x 35.30 x 24.10 cm
  • Credit Bequeathed by Mr Ken Powell 2006 [received 2008]

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