Henk Peeters was the most active member of the Dutch Nul group; he made the international contacts, organised the international ZERO (Nul) exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and wrote on the theory of art. It was also he who first actively participated in international exhibitions with artist groups such as the German ZERO, the Italian Azimuth, and with artists Yves Klein, Yayoi Kusama and Lucio Fontana. He initiated the (utopian) project “Zero on Sea”, with more than fifty participating artists from over ten countries, and remained true to the fundamental concept of the Nul movement right up to his death in 2013.
Henk Peeters sought to use his works of art to make the viewer conscious of his environment; he wanted to bring about a sensitive consciousness-raising, as it were. The materials that Peeters selected for his works frequently had a very tactile appeal, while he simultaneously created a certain untouchability; thus he stuck candle tapers behind plastic foil, or placed mesh in front of cotton wool. He also used fire on canvases, leaving behind traces of thick smoke, or burned holes into plastic, the so-called “Pyrographies”. With these – often white – works he was visually closely related to the German ZERO artists, but there was also a clear relationship with Nouveau Realisme.
Henk Peeters also used ready-mades, which he bought in inexpensive stores and isolated in the work of art. In these, he had a preference for modern, clean, industrial materials, such as plastic and nylon. He once said: “with my work, I have always wanted it to look just as fresh as if it was in the HEMA (the Dutch chain store). It must not be artified… I had no need for artistic cotton wool”. Henk Peeters also worked with natural processes, such as light and water reflections, and with ice, rain, snow and mist. For him art and life should be joined inextricably.
The exhibition includes works from both the start of his career as well as a series of works he realised around the turn of the century.
Henk Peeters was born 100 years ago in The Hague and lived there for thirty-two years. He had a long working relationship with the Hague-based Galerie Orez, which was active from 1960 until 1971. He was a teacher at Artez Academy of Art and during his lifetime actively engaged in the NVSH (Dutch Association for Sexual Reform).
Work by Henk Peeters is included in the collections of among others Tate Modern, London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Kunstmuseum, The Hague, and Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar.
This exhibition has been created in collaboration with Fred Wagemans.
