Artists & Works

STYLE: ABSTRACT-EXPRESSIONISM,
Nouveau Realisme,
Kinetic Art

Jean Tinguely is known for his volatile and destructive kinetic assemblages of the early sixties, as well as for his earlier involvement with assemblage and with the New Realists. He studied at The Basel Art School, there learning to explore the possibilities of non-art materials. He was particularly influenced by the assemblages of Kurt Schwitters. Tinguely began making assemblages that moved--”meta-machines”--in the late fifties. In 1960, he created his infamous Hommage a New York Metamatic for the Museum of Modern Art. The vast explosive contraption had to be extinguished (and destroyed) by firemen, but Tinguely was ecstatic at the machine’s anarchic failure.

Tinguely began living and collaborating with artist Niki de Saint Phalle in 1964 and worked on some massive public art projects with her, including a series of fountains. His sculptural projects, no matter how eccentric, were respected for their wit, charm, and energy, and he continued to receive important commissions and exhibitions until his death. Tinguely’s print for the Homage to Picasso portfolio resembles a joyful graphic explosion, with its repeated and inventive uses of Picasso’s name as well as other significant, lively, and colorful imagery.

CRITICAL EXCERPTS

Jean Tinguely, Untitled Statement, from ZERO, Peine and Mack, eds. (1973)
"The constant of movement, of disintegration, of change, and of construction is static. Be constant! Get used to seeing things, ideas, and works in their state of constant change. You will live longer. Be permanent by being static! Be part of movement! Only in movement do we find the true essence of things. Today we can no longer believe in permanent laws, defined religions, durable architecture, or eternal kingdoms. Immutability does not exist. All is movement. All is static....Continuous static movement marches on!"