Kinetic Sculpture Guide: 4 Notable Kinetic Sculpture Artists

Kinetic sculpture is an art form that integrates movement into three-dimensional art sculptures. This type of kinetic art either moves or creates the illusion of movement. Kineticism is typically achieved through the use of air, wind, water, magnetism, or electric motors.

Inspired by the Dada art movement, which popularized satirical, conceptual art and Constructivism, which employed architectural elements, kinetic art took root as a movement in the early twentieth century and peaked in the 1950s and ’60s.

• Early 1900s: In 1913, artist Marcel Duchamp started exploring the idea that art could be interactive. In his Paris studio, he created what may have been the era’s first piece of kinetic art, Bicycle Wheel, by affixing a bicycle wheel to a stool in a way that allowed the wheel to spin freely.
• 1920s: In 1920, brothers Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo coined the term “kinetic art” in their “Realistic Manifesto,” a poster-sized manifesto advocating for their Constructivist ideals and the idea that modern art should be grounded in space and time. That same year, Gabo created* Kinetic Construction (Standing Wave)*, an influential kinetic artwork that used electricity to make a strip of metal oscillate.
• 1930s: In 1930, Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy completed work on his piece Light-Space-Modulator, a mechanically-powered kinetic sculpture that had several interlocking components.
• 1940s: In 1941, American sculptor Alexander Calder rose to fame with Arc of Petals, a mobile he created using a wire frame with petal-like appendages.
• 1950s: The kinetic art movement reached peak recognition at the 1955 exhibition, Le Mouvement, at the Galerie Denise René in Paris. The exhibition featured artists who experimented with motion including Jean Tinguely, Alexander Calder, Yaacov Agam, Marcel Duchamp, Jesús Rafael Soto, and Victor Vasarely. George Rickey also arrived on the scene around this time and influenced other kinetic artists with his organic, playful sculptures.
• 1960s: Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely unveiled his most recognized kinetic artwork, Homage to New York, in New York in 1960. A large-scale system featuring many moving parts, the piece included parts that self-destructed and intentionally caught fire. This piece also popularized the use of found objects, a style that came to be known as “junk art.”
• 1970 to present: By the early 1970s, kinetic art declined in popularity as more artists turned to op art and experimental digital formats. However, contemporary artists like Lyman Whitaker, known for his wind sculptures, continue to push the boundaries of how sculptures can move.

Kinetic sculptures are three-dimensional works of art that incorporate movement through various means. The sculpture itself may move or it may contain moving parts. A kinetic sculpture with a spinning component is also called a whirligig. Although most kinetic sculptures use electricity, wind, water, air, or magnetism, some achieve kineticism through an optical illusion, encouraging an interactive experience for the viewer.

To learn more about kinetic sculpture, explore the work of these influential artists.

1. 1. Naum Gabo (1890–1977): Naum Gabo was a Russian sculptor who worked alongside Constructivist architect Vladimir Tatlin and Suprematist painter Kazimir Malevich. Gabo moved away from Russia before World War II and landed in the United States in 1946, where he resided until his death. Gabo’s metal sculptures and kinetic art influenced sculptors throughout several art movements.
2. 2. Alexander Calder (1898–1976): American artist Alexander Calder created mobile sculptures and wire sculptures. Although he initially used motors to create movement, he switched to air currents and viewer interaction with his later works. Some of his most influential sculptures include Arc of Petals (1941) and Cat Mobile (1966).
3. 3. Jean Tinguely (1925–1991): Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely began his career as a decorator before attending art school in Basel, Switzerland. Inspired by the ideology of Dadaism and Constructivism, Tinguely began creating wire sculptures to satirize the mechanistic thinking in Europe during that time. In 1956, he invented drawing machines called Méta-Matics that created their own works of art. After the success of Homage to New York (1960), which involved the self-destruction of a sculpture, Tinguely created more self-destructive artworks throughout his career.
4. 4. George Rickey (1907–2002): American kinetic sculptor George Rickey is most well-known for his large-scale sculptures made out of stainless steel. After serving in the Army Air Corps, Rickey attended art school in New York and Chicago, studying Constructivism and the works of Alexander Calder. With kinetic sculptures like Two Turning Vertical Rectangles (1969) and One Fixed Four Jointed Biased (1988), Rickey experimented with how air currents could move towering stainless steel sculptures.

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