Relief à déplacement continuel
Hugo Demarco (Buenos Aires 1932 - Paris 1995)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1967
Materials
Laminate plastic, plastic and steel
Measurements
302 x 300 x 130 mm
Order this imageCollection
2 Willow Road, London
NT 112664
Summary
A kinetic sculpture, Relief à déplacement continuel by Hugo Demarco (1932-1995), 1967, comprising a rectangular wooden box with black laminate face, to which are affixed steel flat rings which rotate eccentrically at different speeds, when electric power is switched on. Perspex back, white plastic clad electricity cable issues from underside.
Full description
Relief à déplacement continuel (‘Relief with continuous movement’) is a kinetic ‘multiple’ by the Argentine artist Hugo Demarco. It comprises a wooden box faced in black laminate to which nine flat steel rings are attached. When electric power is switched on, the rings rotate at different speeds. It is an example of ‘kinetic art’: a type of art that incorporates movement, whether mechanical, environmental or perceptual, to achieve its full aesthetic and conceptual effect. It is thought that movement transforms the viewer's experience from one of passive observation to active participation. The Relief is also a ‘multiple’ - an art object that has been identically reproduced by the artist, usually for sale. The present example is one in an edition of fifty identical reliefs produced by Demarco in 1967 for the Parisian gallerist Denise René (1913-2012). For Demarco, and other kinetic artists working with multiples, this process of duplication served an important purpose – it denied the uniqueness and exclusivity of the art object and, by extension, the artist themself. As his contemporary Julio Le Parc wrote, ‘The multiple is located at the junction of artistic creation and industrial production. It protects the whole of the former as it offers the possibilities of the latter. This is one of the meeting points between art and the technology of our days.’ (Julio Le Parc, ‘Manifeste du Multiple’, c. 1966 quoted in Plante 2016). With its roots in Impressionism, kinetic art was adopted by artists associated with various twentieth century movements such as Constructivism and Dada. Pioneering works include ‘Kinetic Construction (Standing Wave)’ by Naum Gabo (1890–1977), 1919-20 (Tate, T00827) and ‘Bicycle Wheel’, 1913, the first ‘readymade’ kinetic sculpture by Marcel Duchamp (MOMA, 595.1967.a-b). Kinetic art experienced a major international revival in the 1960s, led by artists like Jean Tinguely and Nicolas Schöffer, and by artist groups such as ZERO in Germany, Gruppo T in Italy and Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV) in France. Op Art (short for optical art, abstract art incorporating optical illusions) began to include real movement, while other artists created interactive kinetic environments. Hugo Demarco is best known for his contributions to kinetic and op art. Born in Buenos Aires in 1932, he trained at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes before moving to Paris in the late 1950s with his former classmate Julio Le Parc. There they joined an international community of artists experimenting with light, colour and movement. Demarco was closely associated with this Paris-based collective GRAV, which created participatory art experiences that challenged ideas of passive viewing. One of the most important galleries promoting kinetic and Op Art was the Galerie Denise René, which regularly exhibited Demarco’s work. Alongside artists like Le Parc, Gregorio Vardanega and Martha Boto, Demarco was part of a strong Latin American community contributing to the European kinetic art movement of the 1960s and 70s.
Provenance
Exhibited at ‘Demarco, dynamique de l'image’, Galerie Denise René, Paris, April-May 1968; Denise René à Londres. Abstraction Géométrique, Lumière et Mouvement, Art Optique et Cinétique, Redfern Gallery, no. 44, 1968. Owned by Ernö Goldfinger and Ursula Ruth Blackwell, also known as Mrs Ernö Goldfinger. Purchased by the National Trust in 1994.
Credit line
National Trust Collections (2 Willow Road, The Ernő Goldfinger Collection)
Makers and roles
Hugo Demarco (Buenos Aires 1932 - Paris 1995), artist
References
Popper 1968: Frank Popper, Origins and development of kinetic art, Greenwich, Connecticut 1968 Isabel Plante, 'Kinetic Multiples: Between Industrial Vocation and Handcrafted Solutions', in Rachel Rivenc and Reinhard Bek (eds.), Keep It Moving? Conserving Kinetic Art, Getty Conservation Institute, 2018., https://www.getty.edu/publications/keepitmoving/theoretical-issues/13-plante/