The new management building for the EVN AG in Wiener Neustadt, which is characterised by its functionality and clarity of line, was the reason for Sol LeWitt’s commission. Architect Paul Katzberger made it possible to feel an urban situation which had been lost in the 19^th century. On the site of the former Neunkirchner Gate, the demolition of the building as a solitary body allowed a view of the town’s moat and a footpath along the town wall.

LeWitt reacted to the spatial situation with precision and concision, interpreting the location as a border and thematizing the limes by means of two abstract colour fields. With a lively and dynamic line and strong complementary colours (red, orange, green), he investigated the polarity between autonomous art as the result of an idea as primary artistic production, and what reality provides – the pre-existing wall. He is concerned with the integrity of the surface as a reality and not with philosophic order. The unshakeable commitment of the artist to simple ideas and arbitrary decisions render an unhierarchical concept visible, one which unites lightness and openness, substance and beauty. Conception and perception have entered into an immensely fruitful relationship in LeWitt’s work, and this work confirms that anew.

Brigitte Huck, 2005 (translation: Tim Sharp)