Biography

Jean Tinguely was a prominent Swiss artist and member of the Nouveau Réalisme group. Tinguely developed his kinetic sculptures known as “metamatics” to explore the absurd side of humanity's reliance on technology. In this same vein, for his famed work Homage to New York (1960), the artist designed a self-destructing kinetic sculpture in the garden of The Museum of Modern Art. “Art is the distortion of an unendurable reality,” he once stated. “Art is correction, modification of a situation; art is communication, connection. Art is social, self-sufficient, and total.” Born on May 22, 1925 in Friborg, Switzerland, Tinguely apprenticed as a window display designer as a youth before going on to attend the Kunstgewerbeschule in 1945. Influenced by Dadaists like Otto Piene’s ZERO group as well as Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, and Niki de Saint Phalle whom he went on to marry and collaborate with throughout the rest of his career. He died on August 30, 1991 in Bern, Switzerland at the age of 66. Today, the artist’s works are included in the collections of the Reina Sofia National Museum in Madrid, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.