Ad Dekkers & tomas rajlich

The joint exhibition of Ad Dekkers and Tomas Rajlich at Závodný Gallery in Mikulov was created in collaboration with Daniel Dekkers, son of the mentioned Dutch artist, and Tomas Rajlich who provided archival materials and designed the concept of this unique exhibition project.

The focus was placed on the drawing records of both artist from 60s and 70s which have been complemented in the open and bright gallery space by reliefs and objects from the same period.

Meeting of two close creative worlds of these legendary authors refers to their personal friendship, the selfless sharing of visions and investigations that were based on minimalist and thrifty artistic expression. Archival black-and-white images describe creative and open atmosphere of the Rajlich studio in Haag.

Stimuli of the expressive and colourful „Cobra“ period and also a big influence of American expressionism represented by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline were easily recognizable in European Western art during the 1950s.

In the early sixties a part of the young artists is opposed to this approach and seeks again a connection to simple form, effect of light and non-traditional art materials. A strong source of inspiration for Dekkers´drawings from this early period is art production connected with movement De Stijl and Piet Mondrian artworks.

Art groups inclining to geometry abstraction and kinetic art are gradually forming in European space at the time of sixties, e.g. Zero group in Germany, the Null group in the Netherlands, Zero group in Italy. In the Czech environment these tendencies were presented by the Club of Concrete Artists, co-founded by Tomas Rajlich, 1967.

However, Tomas Rajlich and Ad Dekkers are slowly deflecting away from programs and visions of these mentioned movements. They minimalize their artistic expression to the core, „fundament“, the necessary essence of drawing, painting, relief or sculpture in a space.

For their newly realised minimalist artworks is characteristic inclination towards monochrome, very purist form which is derived from basic geometric shapes /circle, square, triangle/. The symmetry of these elementary formations is interrupted by minor interventions, the final compositions can be easily combined in series.

Both artists were represented by important galleries very soon. In a case of Ad Dekkers it was Gallery of Riekje Swart in Amsterdam, whose portfolio of artists included  Lucio Fontana, Sol Lewitt, Agnes Martin, Francois Morellet, Peter Struyken and Gerhard von Graevenitz.

Tomas Rajlich was represented by Art & Project Gallery in Amsterdam, Francoise Lambert Gallery in Milano an Yvon Lambert Gallery in Paris. In 1975 Tomas Rajlich together with Brice Marden, Robert Ryman, Gerhard Richter and the others became one of the visionary personalities at the Fundamental painting exhibition, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

It would be interesting to see how the artistic paths of both protagonists of the exhibition diverge or approach in the timeline to the present days. Unfortunately, the death of Ad Dekkers in 1974 this retrospective view does not allow. Carel Blotkamp, known art historian from Netherlands, systematically works on the publications and research dedicated to the work of Ad Dekkers.

The progressive artwork of Tomas Rajlich seems to be very unique in a reality of continuous evolution of his art way. He never stopped at the proven platform, proceeded in his research and new targets even if it means to be a pioneer forever.