Congruence | Vigor and melancholy Alternating areas of vertical and horizontal stripes Exploration of surface texture and form |
T he complexity of rectangular form relationships has been explored in art since the 1920's. The movement is known as neoplasticism, where proponents strive to express a new utopian ideal of harmony and order. They advocate pure abstraction and universality by reduction to the essentials of form and color –simplifying visual compositions to vertical and horizontal directions, while using a limited color pallet. In many of the works, the vertical and the horizontal lines slide past each other and do not intersect.
Advocates believe this orientation facilitates the attainment of knowledge more profound than provided by empirical means, and is inspired by the search for spiritual knowledge.
"I construct lines and color combinations on a flat surface, in order to express general beauty with the utmost awareness. Nature (or, that which I see) inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation (still just an external foundation!) of things…
I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true." - Piet Mondrian
