Jo Delahaut

An emblematic figure of geometric abstraction in Belgium, Jo Delahaut began painting expressionist canvases in 1940. Then, influenced by the style of Auguste Herbin, he built static geometric forms in which, at first, the color of the surfaces plays the main role. Over the years, his work becomes purified and minimalist, conducive to awaken the mechanisms of intellectual activity. Around 1952, repetitive forms or serial modules came to punctuate the canvas and develop a dialogue with the chromatic planes that define, support or extend them. The sign, by its color as by its form, by its form-color, extends beyond the surface and provokes space in the double sense of the term; it is generator of energy.  His art speaks for its simplicity, its sensitivity to the dynamism and harmony of colors and forms. "The signs, the colors, the rhythms and their infinite combinations are means that mysteriously touch the unexplained springs of the conscience, to provoke certain deflagrations of the intellectual faculties, to reach in depth the stimuli of the spirit" explains the artist. The work is thus not only support, it is acting force and can exert, consequently, a physical effect.