Ad Dekkers Dutch, 1938-1974

During his education at the Rotterdam Academy Dekkers (1938-1974) became fascinated by the work of Mondrian, Ben Nicholson and Hans Arp.The visual language of these artists would remain 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'. His work did not remain unnoticed, exhibitions in Riekje Swart's gallery in Amsterdam spread his reputation and through the director of the Van Abbemuseum, Jean Leeringh, he was invited to participate in various important, international exhibitions, including the 1967 São Paulo Biennial (together with Jan Schoonhoven and Peter Struycken) and the 1968 Documenta IV in Kassel (in the same room as Elsworth Kelly).

His fascination for the drawn line took him on to the exploration of its third dimension, which he achieved by applying saw-cuts in perfectly smooth panels or by assembling panels one on top of the other in a defined pattern. The ultimate quest for simplicity, clarity and the symbolic characterise the minimalist oeuvre of Ad Dekkers.