Neoconstructive Tendencies, Systems Art, Concretism, New Geometry and Personal Programmes (1960s-1980s)

The development of geometric art was very turbulent in the 1960s, and so varied that orientation in it was difficult, even for experts. Some works may even appear to be very similar at first glance. This situation is based on the common interests of the artists, who were thoroughly and almost scientifically exploring such fundamental issues as the relationship between a plane and space, and light and movement. The spirit of the age desired everything that was completely new. And so the geometrists, following the lead of pioneers of geometric abstraction, sought a new form of art. Their radicality eventually resulted in many new forms of systemic and concrete art that refer to nothing and are just what they are. They represent a new, unique and irreplaceable reality.

This extraordinary intellectual upheaval resulted in the so-called ‘new geometry movement’ at the turn of the seventies and eighties. Its pioneers ‘infected’ the strict world of rational and ideal forms with previously ‘unacceptable’ elements, such as the use of ornamentation or commonly used cultural symbols or pictograms.

An outstanding example of systemic art is the triptych Addition - progression from 1970 by Jan Kubíček. This work is based on the principle of dividing squares into two parallel planes, and at the same time using the lines, which gives this seemingly purely rationally created work an unexpected spatial effect.