Annely Juda Fine Art marks the centenary of Francois Morellet's birth with an exhibition of five key works in our project space. The show echoes a number of exhibitions this year in recognition of Morellet's legacy as a pioneering figure in modern art history and his continuing influence on artists today, notably FRANÇOIS MORELLET. 100 PER CENT at The Centre Pompidou-Metz, France - a retrospective exhibition of 100 works opening in April 2026.
Born in Cholet, France, (30 April 1926) Morellet initially created figurative paintings before turning to abstraction after a highly influential trip to Brazil in 1950, where he discovered Concrete Art and the work of Max Bill and Theo van Doesburg. He adopted a radical approach to geometric abstraction; from the first works characterised by the optical and kinetic activations of surfaces and spaces – to the installation works incorporating the plastic interference of electric neon tubing, steel and iron – Morellet aimed to simultaneously deconstruct and reconstruct an abstract language in an open dialogue between systems and randomness. To achieve this, he started to employ mathematic formulae to create a disciplined, systems-based art. In the late 1950s he discovered the ‘Duo-Collages’ of Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp through his friend Elsworth Kelly which led him to also introduce chance as a central principle. He began creating works based on random numbers found in his local phone directory or in other instances, the infinite sequence of decimals of the number pi. In the early 60’s, Morellet was a founding member of the Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV), an experimental artist’s collaborative that emerged in France concerned with exploring the possibilities of Kinetic Art and active engagement with the viewer.
The early system works had been characterised by the use only of square panels, with lines drawn across them according to proper mathematical fractions, but by the 1970s Morellet had introduced the possibilities of using random numbers which created new elements such as diagonals and colour. Also from 1963, neon had become a central material in Morellet’s work. What interested him in neon tubing was its unique material properties, its luminosity and the fact that it was a manufactured, industrial material aligned directly with Morellet’s strict adherence to systems and intention of minimising artistic expression and individuality. By the mid 1980s, in counterbalance to the strict dogma often associated with minimalism and abstraction, Morellet began to use wordplay in his titles. For example, a large-scale neon installation Sous-Prématisme no.1, no.2, no.3, of 2010 refers directly to Kasimir Malevich - whose strict brand of Constructivism or ‘Suprematism’ made a significant impression on Morellet but which he ultimately found overly rigid.
Annely Juda Fine Art first exhibited François Morellet in 1977 and worked closely with him throughout his life including further solo shows in 1981, 2008, 2011 (with Malevich) and 2016. After his death in 2016 aged 90 years, the gallery has continued to show Morellet’s work in collaboration with his Estate - most recently with a wide-reaching solo exhibition in 2024.
Major retrospective exhibitions of François Morellet have been held at the National Galerie in Berlin (1977), the Centre Pompidou (1986 and 2011) and the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume (2000 – 2001) in Paris and The Dia Art Foundation in the US presented an extensive Morellet survey in 2017. Morellet’s work has also been included in landmark international group exhibitions including Documenta in Kassel, Germany (1964 [with GRAV], 1968, and 1977), and the Venice Biennale (1970 and 1990).
Morellet is represented in numerous prestigious public collections internationally including the Centre Pompidou, Dia Art Foundation, Los Angeles Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Seoul Museum of Art, Tate Britain, the Tel Aviv Museum, the Kunsthaus Zurich and the National Galerie Berlin.
