foreword
"My very first experience in the art
of Lucien den Arend was an article on earth art I read in
the early 1990 's. The work presented in the article impressed
me both because it honored the nature and because it was
structurally pure.
Later, as I had become acquainted with
Lucien and especially after seeing his work in Holland,
I began to see relations with Dutch neoplasticism or Russian
constructivism as well as with Finnish architecture and design,
in both of which Alvar Aalto and the tradition of functionalism
are still strongly present today.
The essence of art, whether from the
world of Plato's ideas or from the universal beauty of Mondriaan,
is based on pure form, color and harmony. As an artist,
Lucien den Arend has found the road leading to more ascetic
harmony by following many different paths. Kajaani Art Museum
is very proud to present these crossing themes and paths
in Lucien's retrospective exhibition in summer 1995."