White Cube Mason’s Yard presents an exhibition of paintings by Belgian artist Léon Wuidar (b. 1938, Liège). Focusing on early and mid-career works from the 1960s to the 1980s, the exhibition highlights Wuidar's continued reference to the language of Brutalist architecture and Concrete Art.

Wuidar has explored geometric abstraction for over 60 years and his work is largely informed by architecture and its concerns of light, space, volume and perspective. Drawing inspiration from his childhood spent in post-war Belgium, where demolished bridges were juxtaposed with military buildings, Wuidar’s paintings combine meticulous compositions with a balanced and striking colour palette.

His affiliation with architecture also links to his long-lasting collaboration with Belgian architect Charles Vandenhove, which resulted in a number of public sculptures, designs for panels, cladding and windows, as well as Wuidar’s own Brutalist home and studio. This influence is noted in the artists paintings, where experimentation with symmetry and repetition evoke a three-dimensional built world. Wuidar has said, 'A house is never more than an assembly of geometric shapes, so Charles and I have a common vocabulary.

Wuidar’s fascination with typography and the rhythm of language is prevalent in his works from the late 1980s. These paintings often contain ‘secret messages’ hidden among the bold geometric forms and resemble a personal alphabet configured by the artist. He states, ‘I like the idea that my paintings are polysemous […] interpretations are multiple and they continue to provide new meanings to different viewers.’ The creation of this ‘alphabet’ can be seen within several personal sketchbooks on display in the exhibition, where small-scale drawings offer an insight into his process.