As an experimental filmmaker, sculptor, photographer and
writer, Len Lye was a diverse original, eccentric and
celebrated artist. Commemorating the centennial year of his
birth, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has organised an
exhibition which showcases the many and varied talents of
his distinguished artistic career.
'the least boring person who ever lived' Poet Alistair
Reid
As an experimental filmmaker, sculptor, photographer and
writer, Len Lye was a diverse original, eccentric and
celebrated artist. Commemorating the centennial year of his
birth, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has organised an
exhibition which showcases the many and varied talents of
his distinguished artistic career.
In 1992 Len Lye was honored for his originality as one of
the hundred great innovators of 20th century art alongside
Picasso, Duchamp and Brancusi in a major exhibition in Bonn,
Germany.
Inventing ways to make films without a camera, Len Lye
became one of the pioneers of the genre later known as the
'music video'. A large body of Lye's experimental
filmmaking will screen continuously as part of the
exhibition.
As a sculptor Lye programmed strips of stainless steel to
vibrate and spin at selected speeds, creating figures of
motion and flashes of light similar to those found in his
later films. His sculptures produced metallic sounds so
that each piece seemed to be dancing to its own soundtrack.
Lye's kinetic sculptures are intriguing and quite beautiful
and three of his works are included.
Another aspect of his diverse creativity is his exceptional
photograms. Twenty-one photograms of colleagues and friends
including Le Corbusier and Georgia O'Keeffe have been
selected for the exhibition.
Len Lye's range of talents and inventiveness, combined with
a lively personality and a remarkable life story, make him a
compelling subject. The exhibition has been curated by Judy
Annear, Senior Curator of Photography at the Art Gallery of
New South Wales and is presented in associated with the
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, supported by the Len
Foundation.
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