M HKA Ensembles

Collage, 190 x 92 cm.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK5971).

From around 1970, Guy Mees worked with color (markers, pastels) on paper. In later works the color spreads ever more freely over the surface and the papers lose their rectangular shape. The organization within these works also becomes freer and looser. This evolution culminates in works where the artist cuts out strips of colored paper that alone or in composition, as painterly signs, are pinned to the wall or some other supporting surface. The criterion for picking from various sorts of paper is the manner they reflect color- and radiant light. The artist makes use of matte, glossy, semi-matte, metallic paper sorts, newsprint, fabric, sometimes even artist’s canvas and aluminum foil. Only the shadows cast by the sheets of paper tell us that these are not painted or pasted color strips. The paper surfaces of various widths and shapes create an illusion of depth via the action of apposing colors. From 1983 onwards, the partially open, multi-cut-out compositions, become gradually simplified to monochrome cutouts.