CLAPEKO paints black

New works on paper

“For almost an entire artist’s life, the colours red and blue have dominated the various series of works by CLAPEKO van der Heide, the Baden representative of concrete art. Now, at the age of 76, he is opening a new chapter of colours: CLAPEKO paints BLACK. However, he does not experiment on canvases, but exclusively on paper. Because no other painting surface allows the applied techniques (from brush application to squeegee) and applied materials (including paint, oil pastels, graphite) to shimmer in such a nuanced and multi-faceted way as white paper in all its variations. A quality that almost magically challenges the artist’s love of experimentation. And so, scratched line drawings intertwined into endless balls of wool and scratch and squeegee marks applied in an informal style cavort on the white paper surface. In an impressive way, he succeeds in interweaving informal spontaneity and conceptual calculation in an exciting way. A selection of his new “black” series of works on paper (50×70 cm), created in spring / summer 2016, is now being presented to the art-interested public for the first time in a gallery exhibition.”

Roland Heinzmann M.A.
Excerpt from: Kunstraum Metropol
Juli / August / Sept. 2017