Exhibition, 17 Mar 1959 - 3 May 1959

Vision in motion - motion in vision

Hessenhuis, Antwerp, Belgium

"This is why, at the Hessenhuis in Anvers, in a group show with BREER, BURY, MACK, MUNARI, UECKER, PIENE, ROT, SOTO, SPOERRI and TINGUELY, I did not even want to paint one or several walls nor make any kind of figurative gesture, sweep or brush the walls with even a dry, paintless brush. NO, I simply restrained myself to presenting myself at the exhibition space on the day of the opening, announcing to everyone, in the space that was reserved for me: FIRST THERE IS NOTHING, THEN THERE IS A DEEP NOTHING, THEN THERE IS A BLUE DEPTH. (G. BACHELARD).
At present I no longer wish that anyone purchase my work for money. I have asked, for my three pictorial states exhibited, a quantity of pure GOLD. One kilo of GOLD for each work. There it is, cut and dried at last … at last for the moment; afterwards we shall see what follows, which will not be long in coming."

Yves Klein, excerpt from « Overcoming the problematics of Art », 1959, Overcoming the problematics of Art -The writings of Yves Klein, Spring Publications, 2007, p. 55