The Kinetic Universe of Pol Bury

Pol Bury was born 1922 in Haine-St. Pierre, Belgium and died in Paris in 2005. Sculptor, painter and designer, he is widely recognized as the leading exponent of Kinetic Art (art that incorporates real or visual movement).

Bury worked and lived mostly in Paris. He also made several long trips to the US and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Mans. Initially influenced by the surrealist movement, he joined the group Rapture. In 1949 he co-founded the CoBrA movement and stayed with them until 1951. He then gave up painting and dedicated himself to Kinetic sculpture. In 1952, after meeting and encountering the work of Alexander Calder, Bury joined the group Art Abstrait.

Bury used various techniques, such as painting and surface textures to create sculptures utilizing light and motion. The artist developed an aesthetic of slowness; surprising, seemingly hazardous movements within the objects add time and sound as formal elements to the sculptures. For example, the operating noise of electromechanics, the tic-tac and clanging of wood and metal elements are audible in his works. The sculptures develop a bizarre life of their own which also reflect the artist’s intense sense of humor.

In 1964 Pol Bury created the cinetisations which related his philosophy of motion to the art of photography. Bury was also a poet and with the Belgian editor Andre Balthazar created the series of artist books The Daily Bulles in collaboration with other artists like Pierre Alechinsky.

The works of Pol Bury have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Europe and in 1972 a large retrospective dedicated to the artist was shown at the Museum of the University of Berkeley and at the Guggenheim Museum. Recently, a retrospective of his works was shown in several European Museums.

The Kinetic Universe of Pol Bury: Time, Motion and Surprise
Kurator: Hans-Dieter Sommer