Ad Dekkers Dutch, 1938-1974

The ultimate quest for simplicity, clarity and the symbolic characterise the minimalist oeuvre of Ad Dekkers (b. 1938 Nieuwpoort - d. 1974 Gorinchem, The Netherlands). His fascination for the drawn line takes him on to the exploration of its third dimension, which he achieves by applying saw-cuts in perfectly smooth panels or by assembling panels one on top of the other in a defined pattern.

During his education at the Rotterdam Academy Dekkers becomes fascinated by the work of Mondrian, Ben Nicholson and Hans Arp. The visual language of these artists remained a life-long guiding principle throughout Dekkers’ oeuvre. He lived in Gorinchem where he became friends with Peter Struycken and Jan van Munster who also lived there. In 1962 he met Joost Baljeu and published in his magazine Structure.

Exhibitions in Riekje Swart’s gallery in Amsterdam spread his reputation and he was invited via the director of the Van Abbemuseum, Jean Leering, for various large, international exhibitions, including the 1967 Sao Paulo Biennial (together with Jan Schoonhoven and Peter Struycken), 1968 and the 4. documenta in Kassel (in the same room as Elsworth Kelly).