Minimalism and After
February 2002
New acquisitions
Douwe Jan Bakker
Greg Bogin
Martin Gerwers
Gerold Miller
John Nixon
Jan van der Ploeg
Eckhard Schene
Andre Cadere
1934-1978 in Paris, FranceBarre de Bois Ronde,
1974; 3 colours, 21 segments, black, white, red, wood, industrial paint, 63.5 x 2.8 cm, certificate
Andre Cadere left behind an oeuvre consisting of about 180 Barres de Bois of different lengths. The Barres de Bois consist of wooden segments, all the same size and painted in different colours; their length always relates to their radius. The individual segments were made by hand, drilled, painted and fitted together.
Cadere worked to a system of numerical order that he had developed himself, containing errors as a secret code. Cadere developed his Barres de Bois as mobile works of art in 1970, something that he could take everywhere with him and use at any time, anywhere. They are legitimized as works of art by being positioned in the context of art, and they can equally well be withdrawn from it.
He travelled all over Europe with his bars, and on to New York, turning up at openings by artists who were close to him like Robert Ryman and Barnett Newman, or at Biennales, uninvited or invited, and usually unwelcome. He would either keep the Barres de Bois in his hand, like a staff, or put them down in a carefully chosen place. Despite the simplicity of the resources he used, the bars developed such a strong presence that that they marked out an unmistakable territory of their own and made an impact on the exhibition.
Cadere wanted his interventions to create a disturbance, thus starting arguments about the art system, which he saw as representing other social systems.
Guided tours on Wednesdays, 6 p.m., groups book by telephone