GÜNTHER UECKER | Spirale I

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, New Jersey
Thence by descent to the present owner in 1970

This work is in very good condition overall. Please contact the Contemporary Department at +1 212 60 7254 for a copy of the condition report prepared by Modern Art Conservation. Unframed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"It was 1968 and I thought invention that leads to incredible work means everything. The main idea was that the artwork itself could be thrown away the moment in which the invention that leads to the work is absorbed and understood in the brain. One invents a work of art, but the thought that leads to an artwork is of epistemic value for the process of the brain; and the object can be thrown away. It is the shadow of the presence."
Günther Uecker

Günther Uecker’s hypnotizing Spirale I stands as an emblem of the artist’s importance within the influential Zero movement and beyond. Founded in 1957, following the horror and devastation of the Second World War, the Zero group sought to resurrect and revive artistic practice by starting over from the beginning. Founders Heinz Mack and Otto Piene envisioned "Zero" as the moment of the final countdown before a rocket ship launches into space. As declared by Otto Piene: “Zero is the incommensurable zone in which the old state turns into the new” (Otto Piene, ‘Die Entstehung der Gruppe ‘Zero,’’ The Times Literary Supplement, 3 September 1964, n.p.). Although established in Dusseldorf, the influence of Zero quickly spread throughout Europe, existing across borders and expanding to include seminal members such as Yves Klein, Enrico Castellani and Jan Schoonhoven, among others. The group looked to the older artist Lucio Fontana as a mentor and trailblazer of their principles. Fontana’s violent and dramatically slashed canvas not only challenged traditional concepts of painting, but also offered a new way of conceiving of space, a crucial principle to the new movement. Following in these footsteps, Zero artists turned to unprecedented materials and innovative compositional structures in order to overturn the conventional restrictions of painting and sculpture and create groundbreaking new forms.

Uecker formally entered the Zero movement in 1961 after meeting Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Yves Klein several years earlier. His innovative use of nails embodied the Zero principles of dynamism, movement and vibration. Projecting outward into space while simultaneously piercing into the picture plane, Uecker’s Spirale I perfectly incorporates the themes of movement and energy which were so crucial to Zero. Crouching above his panels, Uecker hammered his nails rapidly into canvas in unplanned designs. These works were created at “lighting speed in a single, uninterrupted action, the result of which he did not see as a whole until the action was completed or brought to an end by sheer exhaustion” (Dieter Honisch in Exh. Cat., Berlin, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Gunther Uecker: Twenty Chapters, 2006, p. 60). Like Fontana’s slashing, Uecker uses the action of hammering to challenge the concept of the two dimensional picture plane and revolutionize a whole new art form: a type of wall mounted sculpture.

Radiating outward in concentric rings, the nails in Spirale I seem to swirl and flow. The play of the bright white nails against dark elongated shadows constantly challenges the eye, suggesting movement while producing ever evolving patterns, and thus producing distinct responses in each viewer. Spirale I perfectly embodies the key Zero principles of movement and light. As Uecker explained “My objects are spatial realities, zones of light. I use mechanical means in order to overcome the subjective gesture, to objectify it, and to create the situation of freedom” (Günther Uecker cited in Alexander Tolnay, Ed., Günther Uecker Twenty Chapters, Ostfildern-Ruit 2006, p. 54). Lyrical and graceful yet produced with great force, Spirale I stands as a characteristic example within Uecker's distinctive oeuvre, representing a departure from the established conventions of pictorial space.



This work is registered in the Uecker Archiv under the number GU.68.110 and will be noted for inclusion in the forthcoming Uecker Catalogue Raisonné.