Art Brussels 2024

ABC-ARTE pays tribute to Tomas Rajlich , with whom the gallery has been collaborating for years, showing works from the 60s to the present in a genuinely comprehensive retrospective showcasing Rajlich's artwork over the years. The project aims to rediscover and contextualize his work for a new audience while exploring the evolution of his abstraction.

Tomas Rajlich is a Czech-born Dutch abstract painter, acclaimed as one of the most influential figures in European painting, who has significantly contributed to the development of geometric abstraction.

Born in 1940, Rajlich grew up in the avant-garde Klub Konkretistů in Prague, which was orientated towards the international neo-avant-gardes represented by Azimut in Italy, ZERO in Germany and Nul in the Netherlands. Exiled from in 1969 after the Soviet invasion, Rajlich moved to Holland, where the climate was fertile and where his works were immediately viewed favourably in the Conceptualist circles.

Rajlich held solo exhibitions in 1974 at the Yvon Lambert in Paris, Art & Project in Amsterdam, and Françoise Lambert in Milan and the following year featured with Brice Marden, Robert Ryman, Gerhard Richter and others in “Fundamentele schilderkunst” at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Tomas Rajlich is important for his and other generations because of his innovative contributions to geometric abstraction.

He pushed the boundaries of traditional abstract art by exploring geometric shapes, precision, and color theory in unique ways. His work challenged conventional norms, which is vital for the evolution of art across generations. Rajlich's approach to art-making involves meticulous planning and execution, often relying on mathematical principles and grid structures. This method has been influential for artists interested in the intersection of art and science, encouraging experimentation in technique and form.