Leo Erb, embossing, signed

Undated  

“In the extraordinary work of Leo Erb, the great Bauhaus doctrine returns, radicalized and concentrated on its essential elements. Many of Erb’s line paintings and line objects can be read as two-dimensional and spatial at the same time. Erb’s lines are sculptural light ridges or shadow seams; they turn the pictures into things that present themselves to the light, which live in the light” Prof. Dr. Lorenz Dittmann.

W 17 x H 18 

Leo Erb

* born January 21, 1923 in St. Ingbert; died October 21, 2012 in Kaiserslautern

Biography

1940 – 1943 School of Arts and Crafts in Kaiserslautern,

1946/1947 school for arts and crafts in Saarbrücken. Pupil of Boris Kleint, who represented the Bauhaus doctrine (color type doctrine) of the Bauhaus pedagogue Johannes Itten

1948/1949) first own studio St.Ingbert

Beginning of the design of linear paper cuts, sculptures and “line drawings”.

1957 Leo Erb and Boris Kleint found with other artists the “Neue Gruppe Saar”, which counted itself among the avant-garde of its time.

From 1958, structured “line paintings” and “line reliefs” are created.

These extraordinary works are shown for the first time in Düsseldorf as part of the 7th evening exhibition “Das rote Bild” (“The Red Picture”) of the ZERO group.

Since then, supraregional appreciation of his specific expressive formats.

1961 Move to Paris ( until 1975) Life and work in the self-built studio.

In this further development of the format “line works

Works of kinetic art are created: among other things “linear light objects”, “solar sculptures

1977 Participation in the Documenta 6 in Kassel with international attention

The entire oeuvre of Leo Erb becomes “the line” and the color white in all shades dominates and tangentially affects all his work groups (hand drawings, material pictures, reliefs, sculptures, kinetic objects, light objects and hand prints).