Yves Klein and “Prodromal Art”

Yves Klein
Killed by his own Immaterial Quest?
Mateusz Kuiavsk

Klein had a vital interest in what may be called conscious dreaming, during which, one summer at the age of eighteen, he signs the sky as his own while his colleagues claim the earth and sea respectively. (Source)

Le Vide (The Void) displayed at the Iris Clert Gallery

For his next exhibition at the Iris Clert Gallery (April 1958), Klein chose to show nothing whatsoever…,he removed everything in the gallery space except a large cabinet, painted every surface white, and then staged an elaborate entrance procedure for the opening night...”(from wikipedia)

I am struck by Yves Klein’s fascination with Blue and the Void, particularly given his early death from a heart attack at the age of 34. It is as if his unconscious was well aware of his imminent, death, and he was painting from that inner landscape. I don’t think it was his “immaterial quest” that killed him, but rather it was his heart condition that spurred his immaterial quest, his quest on archetypal levels.

I would also note that an “empty chest”/empty cabinet is a metaphor, on a bodily level, of a chest that is absent a heart. (see the post “A Burnt Out Chest of Drawers.“)

Review of the current exhibition of his work at the Hirschorn
(“Of all the dazzling stuff on this planet, not much beats the art of Yves Klein.”)