(Cholet, France 1926–2016)
Lunatique neonly - 16 quarts de cercle n°5, 2005, titled, signed and dated on the reverse, canvas stretched on board with neon, 212 x 245 cm (overall), 200 x 200 cm (diameter canvas)

This work is registered in the Morellet Archives under number 05003.

Provenance:
The artist
Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, Salzburg
European Private Collection

Exhibited:
Stuttgart, François Morellet , Galerie Mueller-Roth, 24 November 2006 – 24 January 2007
Salzburg, François Morellet, Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska, 24 July - 30 August 2009

Published in:
G. Leisten, Winzige Witze am Küchentisch, in: Stuttgarter Zeitung, 5 January 2007, ill.

François Morellet is regarded as one of the most important representatives of systematic-conceptual art and constantly expanded the definition of abstract art over more than six decades. As early as 1963, the painter, sculptor and installation artist was one of the first ever to use neon light in his works. His approach is characterised by combining the precision of strict systems of order, grid overlays, and geometric structures with the compositional principle of chance. Lunatique neonly - 16 quarts de cercle n°5 exemplifies Morellet’s ability to facilitate the meeting of rhythm and randomness.

The round canvas acts as a vessel for the 16 neon circle segments which lie on top of each other. Individual arcs break out of the defined frame of reference and project into space, the interplay of the lines thus condensing into a dynamic deconstruction of the circle.

The title of this group of works created from 1996 onwards reflects the artist’s wit and playfulness. Lunatiques Neonly is composed of the French words for moon, madness, neon and the English word ‘only’. Morellet deliberately uses such puns and parodies to trigger interpretations that go beyond formal examination of the work as abstract geometric art. Here he refers both openly and meaningfully to the flow of energy often associated with the luminous celestial body, melancholy, and the effects of losing stability.