Helmut Federle's Spiritual Geometry at Peter Blum Soho

Helmut Federle presented five new paintings from a 2009 series at Peter Blum Gallery in New York from October 29, 2009 to January 9, 2010. The Swiss-born artist described these works as "God-related" in a Brooklyn Rail interview, marking a return to painting after a hiatus. Federle's background in sculpture, photography, architecture, and typography at a school of applied arts informs his abstract visual language, which draws from Asian travels and other cultural traditions. Each painting measures 23-5/8 x 19-5/8 inches (60 x 50 cm) and depicts a five-sided figure glowing within a shadowy, cave-like chamber. His palette remains consistent with his forty-year practice: white, black, and yellow, applied in thin, washed layers of acrylic or oil that reveal the canvas weave. The exhibition installation followed the Fibonacci sequence, with paintings spaced at progressively greater distances to create a spiral effect within the gallery. This arrangement connects to Federle's architectural projects, including a relief at the Swiss Embassy in Berlin and a concrete wall at Museum Rietberg Zürich where visitors can apply gold leaf. The series finds precedent in a 1985 work titled "Innerlight," which similarly depicted spiritual light emerging from darkness. Federle's approach creates a unique atmosphere of spiritual mimesis within contemporary abstract painting, comparable to the work of composers John Taverner and Arvo Pärt.