Robert Breer

1958-1959

Film, 00:06:00 .
Materials: 16 mm film transferred to dvd, black & white

Collection: Courtesy of Kate Flax, Estate of the artist & GB Agency, Paris.

In films like 'Recreation' (1956 – 57) and 'Eyewash' (1959), Breer intercut shots of household objects with bright, abstract patterns arranged contrapuntally. Breer’s work owes a debt to Hans Richter, Oskar Fischinger, and László Moholy-Nagy, but it is quicker, more violent and jagged, highlighting the rough edges. Breer, in other words, differed from his predecessors by embracing some of the impulsiveness of Abstract Expressionism and the shifting, nerve-racking time signatures of bebop and free jazz.

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The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

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