Jean Tinguely in Reliefs

Jean Tinguely in Reliefs: eleven masterpieces, some of them that have never been seen before, remind us of the profound originality of this sculptor, who has been dead for over 20 years. Jean Tinguely: a name that tintinnabulates, resonates and reflects the works presented. A name that reminds each of us of the fantastic handyman that created pieces which invite the viewer to look and listen. Jean Tinguely who mixed physique amusante with a sombre and sardonic reflection on the mechanical world during the industrial era. Jean Tinguely who invented, out of mischief and scorn, the Meta-Matic, a pataphysical sculpture from Modern Times.

The nine Meta-Reliefs and the two Meta-Matics sculptures in this exhibition were created between 1955 and 1961. These dates are both turning points in the artist’s career. 1955 is the year that the sculptor moved to Paris, not far from Brancusi’s studio in the Impasse Ronsin, and of the first exhibition of a sound relief in «Salon des Réalités Nouvelles», just before his first solo exhibition of «peintures cinétiques» at Galerie Denise René. 1961 is marked by the participation of Tinguely in the famous exhibitions «Le Mouvement dans l’art» at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and «Rörelse konsten i» at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Between these two dates, Tinguely’s work uses its strength and poetic quality to become a language; the text in the book which is being publicated for the exhibition, will try to analyse the possible parallels and echoes between this work of art and Ferdinand de Saussure’s researches.

The Swiss philologist was a great lover and observer of the tiniest detail in everyday life, and the inventor of an incredible work –that was not dissimilar to Tinguely’s, – which combined words and writings, the voice and the ear, the sign and meanings.