Jean TINGUELY

JEAN TINGUELY (b. Fribourg, Switzerland 1925 - d. Berne, Switzerland 1991) The Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely studied at the School of Decorative Arts in Basel from 1941- 1945. In 1953, he moved to Paris and began to produce abstract assemblages in iron and wood, echoing the surrealist spirit. He completed his first “Méta-mécaniques”, animated robots made of iron and steel which also used moving geometric shapes and objects such as hammers. These provided an auditory dimension to his work: his friend John Cage often worked to help include sound in Tinguely’s work.

Tinguely joined the group of kinetic artists of the Denise René Gallery, and befriended Yves Klein, who helped him associate with the Nouveaux Réalistes movement. In 1961, he participated in the “Le Mouvement dans l’art” exhibition.
Beginning in 1959, Tinguely immersed himself frenetically in the conception of his “Machines à peindre” (presented at the Paris Biennale of the same year), which mocked certain aspects of contemporary art. Tinguely was fascinated by the machine itself, paradoxically glorifying and satirizing it at the same time. He gained international fame with the debut of his “Homage to New York” in March of 1960. It was displayed in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, a gigantic, self destructive and explosive construction which caught fire and disappeared in smoke at the moment of its unveiling. This notorious piece clearly illustrated Tinguely’s famous quip, “we don’t give a f*** about art”.
Tinguely later created the burlesque series “Baluba”, which employed all sorts of everyday objects including plastic toys, animal fur, waste and scraps. He also created more monumental public works with his wife Niki de Saint Phalle, which can be seen around the world.
In the last period of his life, Tinguely created various altarpieces and works that incorporated animal skulls, creating a disturbing and poetic commentary. Functioning as a true praise of folly, Tinguely’s oeuvre remains a complete work of art.

Yves Malrin

Selected Works

Pinboard

Selected Press

Sep 2, 2006THE NEW YORK TIMES, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle