Cinema between monochrome painting and light vibrations: Essentieel (1964) by Jef Verheyen and Paul De Vree

Abstract

ABSTRACT Essentieel (1964) is a short experimental film made by Belgian abstract painter Jef Verheyen in collaboration with poet Paul De Vree. A cinematic equivalent of Verheyen’s attempts in representing the warmth and vibrations of light in his monochrome or ‘essentialist’ paintings of the late 1950s and 1960s, the film plays on the tensions between abstract color surfaces and natural elements. Apart from offering a close-reading of Essentieel, this article investigates the film’s production context. In addition, it situates Essentieel in the history of experimental cinema, particularly abstract and visionary film, and it investigates the work’s relation to the aspirations of the landmark exhibition Vision in Motion – Motion in Vision (Antwerp, 1959), which is usually considered the first important international manifestation of the ZERO art movement. Consequently, this article analyzes Essentieel in the larger European context of ZERO and Verheyen’s collaborations and affinities with leading neo-avant-garde artists such as Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein, and Jésus Rafael Soto.