Force Fields: Phases of the Kinetic.MUSEU D'ART CONTEMPORANI High modernist blind spots persist when it comes to '60s kinetic art kinetic art, term referring to sculptured works that include motion as a significant dimension. The form was pioneered by Marcel Duchamp, Naum Gabo, and Alexander Calder. Kinetic art is either nonmechanical, e.g., Calder's mobiles, or mechanical, e.g., works by Gabo, László Moholy-Nagy, and Jean Tinguely. The latter sort of kineticism developed in response to an increasingly technological culture., which still evokes, in many minds, ideas of tinkly metallic kitsch kitsch [Ger.,=trash], term most frequently applied since the early 20th cent. to works considered pretentious and tasteless. Exploitative commercial objects such as Mona Lisa scarves and abominable plaster reproductions of sculptural masterpieces are described as kitsch, as are works that claim artistic value but are weak, cheap, or sentimental. A museum of kitsch was opened in Stuttgart.. In "Force Fields," critic and curator Guy Brett promises to dispatch such biases. Placing work by the likes of Jean Tinguely, Pol Bury, and Julio Le Parc in the broader context of movement and the kinetic in abstract art abstract art: see abstract expressionism; modern art. from 1930 to 1970, Brett brings his internationalist perspective to bear on this ambitious exhibition: Featured artists and filmmakers hail from Latin America, China, and the Soviet Union as well as Europe and the US. Apr. 18-June 18; Hayward Gallery, London, July 13-Sept. 10. |
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