From his beginnings in the first group of abstract painters in his native Brazil, Almir Mavignier has spent his career exploring the phenomenological effects of light and space in his work, which includes not only an impressive body of paintings but also a pioneering conception of posters in the early days of the medium.
Our large-format painting is an excellent example of Mavignier's approach to what Hegel (in many ways the artist's spiritual brother) calls "the spatial totality of the three dimensions" ((quoted from Exhib. cat. Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, October 9 - November 24, 1968, p. 6).
In the present work, the artist has created a complex visual effect using a minimalist background, with dots of different sizes and geometric formations that appear to pop out of the canvas. The multitude of dots changes and blurs geometric structures the eye would otherwise recognize. Almir Mavignier calls this discovery the “geometry of the unknown.” Using a nail head soaked in paint; the artist created strictly geometrically arranged, protruding color grids. Their positions on the canvas are determined by a mathematical sequence, which explains the serial nature of the composition. The artist uses the relief structure of the three-dimensional color cones and the changing incidence of light to create a sensual and poetic pictorial effect. As a highlight of Op Art, the present work underscores this effect with its play with depth and strong color contrasts.

In the early 1950s, Mavignier was fascinated with the expressive forms of the Swiss Bauhaus artist Max Bill. He soon decided to move to Europe to study in Paris. A few years later, he enrolled at the renowned Ulm School of Design and became a student of Max Bill.
This was where he first experimented with geometric networks in the form of dots, his so-called "dot pictures." In 1954, he created the first work of this kind. The artist describes the process: "A progressive concentration of dots gave me a new solution to the problem of color gradients. At the same time, however, the resulting dot structure created a new relationship between color and light through the relief nature of this structure. This relief became even clearer in the further evolution of my painting, in which the dots became larger and even objects themselves." (Almir Mavignier, quoted from: Exhib. cat. Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, October 9 - November 24, 1968, p. 8).

The precise application of dots on the canvas creates a series of optical illusions, such as the impression of depth, a distorted perception of color intensity, or the feeling of vibration. Almir Mavignier sees his experiments as an art form based on data theory, which postulates that a work of art is a symbol made up of micro symbols and forms a network based on strictly defined rules.
The works from around 1960, including "12 quadrate", are perhaps the most important in Mavignier's oeuvre. During this period, the artist gained greater international attention and participated in numerous important exhibitions. In 1964 and 1968, his works were shown at the Venice Biennale and the documenta in Kassel. In 1965, the Museum of Modern Art in New York showed two of his works alongside works by Josef Albers, Max Bill, Enrico Castellani, Ellsworth Kelly, Kenneth Noland, Ad Reinhardt, Bridget Riley, Frank Stella, and Victor Vasarely in the groundbreaking exhibition “The Responsive Eye.” [KA]