An unprecedented comparison: what connects Goethe's theory of colours with the light art of ZERO artist Heinz Mack?

‘Colours are acts of light’ – this quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's theory of colours forms the title of the major special exhibition at the Goethe Museum in Düsseldorf and its accompanying catalogue. The exhibition juxtaposes the ideas of Goethe (1749–1832) with the work of light artist and ZERO co-founder Heinz Mack (born 1931, Lollar). But what connects the classicist with the avant-gardist?

There are surprising parallels that manifest themselves in the universality of both artists' interests and their future orientation: Mack's enthusiasm for the structures of organic and inorganic life meets Goethe's reflections on morphology, the study of the form and transformation of organic bodies. And images inspired by the Orient find confirmation in Goethe's insight: ‘The Orient and the Occident can no longer be separated.’ Never-before-seen works by Mack are juxtaposed with rare Goethe exhibits from the Düsseldorf Museum and loans from Weimar, Dresden and Vienna.