Biography
In the early 1960s, Ad Dekkers (1938-1974) became known for his thorough investigation into the plane, the shape and the line. Dekkers most often started his works with a circle, square or triangle, connecting his work to pre-war artists such as Piet Mondriaan, whose view he shared that the most universal concepts could be expressed with the purest possible visual means. From 1965, he started making reliefs in editions, often cast in polyester, but also made in different materials such as wood and aluminium. By painting his reliefs monochrome, and mostly white, the effect of light could be optimally utilized. Additionally, Dekkers greatly reduced the number of compositional elements and accentuated the specific character of each of the geometric basic forms by a single systematic intervention.
Dekkers was represented by Riekje Swart, the Amsterdam based gallerist who also worked with international artists such as Lucio Fontana, Sol Lewitt, Agnes Martin, François Morellet, Peter Struycken and Gerhard von Graevenitz. Supported by Jean Leering, director of the Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, his work was also included in seminal exhibitions such as the 1967 Biennal of São Paolo together with Jan Schoonhoven and Peter Struycken and the Documenta 4 in Kassel in 1968, in a gallery room shared with Elsworth Kelly.