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Kinetic Works by Five Sculptors March 18 - June 13, 1999
The late 20th century has afforded sculptors a near utopia of new materials. Lightweight and highly conductive substances, low-friction bearings, highly efficient electromechanics and that passing-the-Rubicon concoction, the silicon chip, have all allowed the creative doors to be opened wider. Relating to sculpture, the breakthrough developments and materials would mean little without the inventive intelligence and the tinkering of the artists. Thus, ACTION/REACTION devoted to the art we call sculpture, affords us both learning and pleasure.* The McAllen International Museum is very pleased to present this extraordinary group of innovative sculptors. ACTION/REACTION is an exhibition that forces us to rethink our presuppositions about sculpture. This work is for the 21st century. Thses sculptures are frequently responsive to the viewer or to the natural environment. Some invite interaction, demonstrating that the process is the actuality. Sometimes intimate, sometimes funny, they can provoke and delight in turn. These works of art are, above all, memorable--a key element in determining value in contemporary art. We are grateful to Terry Melton and to all the artists for giving us the opportunity to, in Picabia's words, "amuse ourselves seriously" John Mueller
*Excerpt from the Curators Statement, Terry Melton, ACTION/REACTION Catalog. |
Until the 20th Century the nature of sculpture and painting was one of stillness; moments frozen in time and space. The visual experience was a static and tactile world which captured our attentions. Color, surface, eclectic techniques, old and new materials, all told us about a moment. Some work even suggested we might envision movement. Nonetheless, the work was both still and silent. But by the mid-part of this century much of the stuff we called art was changing.*
