While Helmut Federle (*1944) is chiefly known to the public for his black bar paintings, large, geometrical paintings whose formal symbolism is inspired by the artist’s initials, his solo show at Kunstmuseum Luzern focuses on his small and medium-sized works, which bring together geometry and spirituality. Helmut Federle constructs stylised characters, shapes such as circles, triangles, rectangles, polygons or spirals into paintings in which subjective sensations are combined with clear geometrical forms. His work is distinguished by a power that is both intellectual and emotional, the artist does not shy away from sensory and spiritual themes, and in his most recent works concentrates on light. The artist has also been described as a cuckoo in the nest of Concrete Art, because this wayward maverick is so difficult to categorise. So it is all the more gratifying that Helmut Federle should here be setting out various clues in this exhibition with early drawings to contribute to the understanding of his painting.