Machine Spectacle
October 1, 2016–March 5, 2017
Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925–91) is famous for his playful, boldly kinetic machines and explosive performances. Everything had to be different, everything had to move. Precisely 25 years after his death the Stedelijk opens the largest-ever exhibition of the artist in 30 years. With over a hundred machine sculptures, most of which are in working order, paired with films, photos, drawings, and archive materials, the presentation takes the public on a chronological and thematic journey of Tinguely’s artistic development and ideas, from his love of absurd play to his fascination for destruction and ephemerality.
The presentation features his early wire sculptures and reliefs, in which Tinguely imitated and animated the abstract paintings of artists such as Malevich, Miró, and Klee; the interactive drawing machines and wild dancing installations constructed from salvaged metal, waste materials, and discarded clothing; and his streamlined, military-looking black sculptures.
Tinguely’s enormous self-destructive installations from 1960–70, designed to spectacularly disintegrate in a barrage of sound, are a special feature of the Stedelijk presentation. The survey ends with a dramatic grand finale, the remarkable, room-filling installation, Mengele-Totentanz (1986), a disturbing display of light and shadow that has never travelled from Museum Tinguely in Basel.
Amsterdam has enjoyed a dynamic history with Tinguely. The exhibitions Bewogen Beweging (1961) and Dylaby (1962), for which Tinguely was (co)curator, particularly underline the extraordinarily close relationship that sprang up between the museum and the artist. Not only did he bring his kinetic Méta machines to the Netherlands, he also brought his international, avant-garde network, leaving an enduring impression on museumgoers who flocked to see these experimental exhibitions. Close relationships with Willem Sandberg and Edy de Wilde, former directors of the Stedelijk Museum, and curator Ad Petersen prompted various retrospectives and no less than 13 acquisitions of sculptures for the collection.
A catalogue will be published to mark the exhibition. Based on years of research conducted by the Stedelijk Museum and Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, the publication contains essays by several Tinguely experts, among them Margriet Schavemaker, Barbara Til, and Beat Wismer.
This exhibition is curated by Dr. Margriet Schavemaker and organised in collaboration with Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf.
This exhibition is made possible with the generous support of Turing Foundation, All Art Initiatives B.V., het Blockbusterfonds, LUMA Foundation and additional support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Museum Tinguely Basel and the Walter A. Bechtler Foundation, Switzerland.
Symposium:
Lose Yourself!
February 2–4, 2017
A symposium on labyrinthine exhibitions as curatorial mode; in collaboration with Moderna Museet Stockholm, the Tinguely Museum Basel, the VU Amsterdam and the Onderzoekschool Kunstgeschiedenis (OSK).
