Jean Tinguely (1925 – 1991) was a Swiss
sculptor, founding member of the
Nouveaux Réalistes also associated to group “
Zero”. Moving to France in 1952, he soon had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Arnaux, in 1954. His early experiments with movement in sculpture led him to take part in 1955 to the first ever
kinetic art exhibition “Le Mouvement” together with
Pol Bury,
Vasarely, Calder and
Duchamp. The Meta Matics are arguably his most famous works. These machine-like sculptures are equipped with electric motors and programmed to create original artworks – but could also be self-destructive. In 1961 he married artist
Niki de Saint Phalle. Together they produced numerous sculptural installations (
Hon, Le Cyclop, The Garden of Tarot, La Fontaine Stravinsky). He exhibited widely throughout his life (1967's World Exhibition in Montreal, MoMA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago). A large touring retrospective of his work was held between 1972 and 1973.
