Walter Leblanc

Walter Leblanc is a Belgian artist best known for his Kinetic and Op Art pieces that incorporate light and other non-traditional materials. He was also the founder of the G58 arts group and took part of the Zero Group exhibitions. Born in 1932, in Antwerp, Walter Leblanc studied at the Fine Arts Royal Academy of Antwerp while learning to become a publicist.

In 1958, he founded the G58; a group of young artists denouncing the non-representation of Belgian artists at the Universal Exhibition, 50 years of modern Art. From 1959, the group moved into a warehouse and organise a series of international exhibitions such as Vision in Motion (1959).

In 1959, investigating strategies for painting without pigment, Leblanc introduced torsion to his work, he tightened and twisted cotton threads, and eventually plastic ribbons, over traditional supports to create ray-like patterns and simple geometric shapes. Leblanc was primarily interested in motion, both the illusion of movement produced by Op Art and the physical movement of Kinetic Art. In 1961, he exhibits his first solo show at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and also participated to the 35th Venice Biennale in 1970.

Walter Leblanc died on 1986 in Silly (Belgium). Today, his work can be found in the permanent exhibitions of the Stedelijk Museum, (Amsterdam), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Zagreb), Tate Modern (London); Centre Pompidou (Paris), Museum d'Art Moderne of Montreal, the S.M.A.K. and the Museum of Ixelles in Belgium, amongst others.