Variation of Form: Modulating Space, 1957–1958

Toward the late 1950s, Lygia Clark embarked on an extensive, methodical investigation of pictorial form, producing a series of large monochromatic modular compositions composed of positive and negative planes. Eventually, her analysis of linear form in a multidimensional space aimed to manipulate and deform the geometry of the plane.

This final section of the exhibition features three major series of two-dimensional works between 1957 and 1958: Planes in Modulated Surfaces (Planos em superfícies moduladas, 1957–58), Modulated Spaces (Espaços modulados, 1958), and a reprise of Modulated Surfaces (Superfícies moduladas, 1957–58). These works, some of which were exhibited at the 1968 Venice Biennial, showcase the artist’s range of serial, linear configurations composed of black-and-white geometric forms. Additionally, this section includes a selection of collages that explore the mutability of line, color, and space formed by intersecting lines and contrasting colors.