Kinetic sculpture George Rickey

two open triangles gyratory, stainless steel, 1982, honolulu museum of art

in works such 2 open triangles gyratory, rickey s 2 wind driven elements (engineered withstand winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h)) provide endless series of combined, dance like, shapes , movements.

rickey mastered not ordered predictable movements, mastered methods of controlling both speed , tempo of similar objects respond more randomly, such in work 4 open rectangles diagonal jointed gyratory v.

much of work created in studio in east chatham, new york, moved after taking position professor of art (sculpture) @ rensselaer polytechnic institute in troy, new york. kinetic sculpture titled 2 rectangles, vertical gyratory up, variation iii central element of rensselaer campus 1972. located in geneva, switzerland, @ headquarters of ubs.. sculpture known crinatoid when located on rensselaer campus on long term loan. removed after rickey , rensselaer not agree on purchase price.

rickey lived , worked in berlin many years, following documenta iii art show. studio time spent constructing sculpture , preparing exhibitions in europe. in rickey’s words city ”cocoon” in middle of communist east germany, lively , advanced social , cultural life partook in fully. during time received numerous honorary doctor of fine arts degrees.

in 1979 had retrospective @ guggenheim museum in new york city. rickey’s sculptures on permanent exhibition @ national gallery of art, , hirshhorn museum in washington dc, empire state plaza in albany, new york, san diego museum of art, delaware art museum, indiana university art museum, honolulu museum of art, frederik meijer gardens & sculpture park, , @ laumeier sculpture park in st. louis, , many other institutions.

in 1985, george rickey had major retrospective in south bend, indiana, place of birth. sculptures installed outside (and inside) of south bend art center, , @ snite museum of art on campus of university of notre dame. rickey gave presentation of work @ snite. 1 of stories told concerned how, result of world war ii-era, government-administered aptitude test, assigned design machine gun turrets bombers. in job became familiar high-quality ball bearings, balancing weights, riveted sheet metal, lightweight aircraft construction techniques, , modern hardware (and vendors same) become mechanical foundation later forays lightweight, delicately balanced, wind-activated kinetic sculpture.

rickey died @ home in saint paul, minnesota, on july 17, 2002 @ age of 95. rickey estate represented marlborough gallery in new york city. rickey archive have permanent home @ notre dame.