Strauss & co - 20 May 2019, Johannesburg

79 164 Kevin Atkinson SOUTH AFRICAN 1939–2007 Abstract Composition acrylic on canvas 176 by 230,5 cm R20 000 – 30 000 Kevin Atkinson was one of the first South African artists to respond positively to Josef Albers’famous series of lectures at Black Mountain College, published in book form as The Interaction of Colour (1963). But Atkinson experimented with colour in a different way: he painted monochrome colour field canvases for his exhibition at the Adler Fielding Gallery in August 1967, letting the massive colour painting inadvertently interact with the viewer. Unlike Albers, who pioneered what is known as geometric abstraction, Atkinson experimented with Abstract Expressionism, such as in the present Lot. The basis of the work is still the interaction of colour. The colours are not static geometric shapes, but swirling colour splashes against a dark background. His sense of movement developed by means of happenings and performances, ideas Atkinson began exploring after meeting Joseph Beuys, at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, in 1972.