Kenneth Snelson

Kenneth Snelson
Kenneth Snelson
	Needle Tower II by Kenneth Snelson (1969) at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Netherlands
Born	June 29, 1927; Pendleton, Oregon
Died	December 22, 2016 (aged 89); New York City, New York
Nationality	American
Education	University of Oregon; Black Mountain College; Fernand Léger in Paris.
Known for	Sculpture, Photography

Kenneth Duane Snelson (June 29, 1927 – December 22, 2016) was an American contemporary sculptor and photographer. His sculptural works, exemplified by Needle Tower, are composed of flexible and rigid components arranged according to the idea of 'tensegrity'. Snelson preferred the descriptive term floating compression.

Snelson said his former professor Buckminster Fuller took credit for Snelson's discovery of the concept that Fuller named tensegrity.^[1] Fuller gave the idea its name, combining 'tension' and 'structural integrity.' Kārlis Johansons had exhibited tensegrity sculptures several years before Snelson was even born. The height and strength of Snelson's sculptures, which are often delicate in appearance, depend on the tension between rigid pipes and flexible cables.

Biography

Snelson was born in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1927. He studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene, at the Black Mountain College,^[2] and with Fernand Léger in Paris. His sculpture and photography have been exhibited at over 25 one-man shows in galleries around the world including the structurally seminal Park Place Gallery in New York in the 1960s. Snelson also did research on the shape of the atom. Snelson continued to work in his SoHo studio, occasionally collaborating with animator Jonathan Monaghan.^[3] He lived in New York City with his wife, Katherine.

He held five United States patents: #3,169,611: Discontinuous Compression Structures, February 1965; #3,276,148: Model for Atomic Forms, October 1966; #4,099,339: Model for Atomic Forms, July 1978; and #6,017,220: Magnetic Geometric Building System; and most recently, #6,739,937: Space Frame Structure Made by 3-D Weaving of Rod Members, May 25, 2004.

Snelson was a founding member of ConStruct, the artist-owned gallery that promoted and organized large-scale sculpture exhibitions throughout the United States. Other founding members include Mark di Suvero, John Raymond Henry, Lyman Kipp and Charles Ginnever. Snelson was also a pioneer of digital art, using a Silicon Graphics machine to produce artistic images in the 1980s.^[4]

After suffering from prostate cancer, Snelson died on December 22, 2016, at the age of 89.^[5]

Needle Tower II, 1968 (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands)^[6]^[7]
B-Tree, 1981 (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland)^[8]
Avenue K, 1968 (Hannover, Germany)^[9]
Osaka II, park Planten un Blomen, Hamburg
"Indexer II" Sculpture, University of Michigan North Campus, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Honours and awards

(1999) Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center.

Sculptures in public collections and public spaces

United States

Alabama

Mora Terry II, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham

California

City Boots, 1968, J. Patrick Lannon Foundation, Los Angeles
Mozart I, 1982, Stanford University, Palo Alto

District of Columbia

Needle Tower, 1968, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington
Untitled Maquette, 1975, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington^[10]

Florida

Newport, 1968, M. Margulies, Coconut Grove
Double City Boots, 1967, MDC Wolfson Campus, Miami
X-Planar Tower, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota

Iowa

Four Module Piece, 1968, Riverfront Crossings Park, Iowa City

Louisiana

Virlane Tower, 1981, Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA, New Orleans

Maryland

B-Tree, 1981, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
Easy Landing, 1977, City of Baltimore, Baltimore
Six Number Two, 1967, Annmarie Sculpture Garden (Smithsonian partner/annex site), Solomons, Maryland

Massachusetts

Mozart III, 2008, Science Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley,^[11]

Michigan

Indexer II, 2001, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
B-Tree II, 2005, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids

Missouri

Triple Crown, 1991, Hallmark, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, just north of 27th Street between Main Street and Grand Blvd, at the South end of the Crown Center complex. The sculpture consists of 30–40 aluminum tubes held together and apart by steel cables. The entire assembly is roughly 23 meters on each of three sides and roughly that tall, with the low point being roughly 5 meters above the ground.^[12]

Nebraska

Able Charlie, 1983, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha

New York

Coronation Day, 1980, City of Buffalo, Buffalo
E.C. Column, 1969–81, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
Four Chances, 1982, Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo
Fair Leda, 1969, Nelson Rockefeller Estate
Free Ride Home, 1974, Storm King Art Center, Mountainville
Mozart II, 1982, Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden at Pepsico, Purchase
Sun River, 1967, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
One World Trade Center antenna/spire, 2006, One World Trade Center, New York

New Jersey

Northwood II, 1970, Compton Quad, Graduate College, Princeton, Mercer

North Carolina

Northwood II(maquette), 1970, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville

Pennsylvania

Forest Devil, 1975–77, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

Ohio

Forest Devil, 1975, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati
V-X, 1968, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus

Oklahoma

Sleeping Dragon, 2002–03, Kirkpatrick Oil Company Building, Oklahoma City

Tennessee

Dragon II, 2005, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville
V-X-II, 1973-4, Hunter Museum, Chattanooga

Texas

Northwood, 1969, Northwood Institute, Cedar Hills

Vermont

"Hard Wired", Bennington (College)

Wisconsin

Northwoods III, 1970, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee

International

Germany

Soft Landing, 1975–77, Berlin Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Avenue K, 1968, City of Hannover

The Netherlands

Easy-K, 1970, Sonsbeek ‘70, Arnhem
Needle Tower II, 1969, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo

Japan

Osaka, 1970, Japan Iron & Steel Federation, Kobe
Needle Tower II, 1989,Shiga Prefecture Museum,Shiga
T-Zone Flight, 1995, JT Building, Toranomon, Tokyo
Landing, 1970, Wakayama Prefecture Museum, Wakayama

Location unknown

Audrey I, 1966, Private Collection
Audrey II, 1966, Private Collection
Equilateral Quivering Tower, 1973–92
Tri-Core Column, 1974
Wing I, 1992; Ed. 4, Private collection : University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez
Rainbow Arch, 2001, Private collection displayed at Seltzer Sculpture Garden, Cleveland, OH
Dragon, 2000–03

References

^ "FAQ". Kennethsnelson.net. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ 38th Rotterdam Film Festival Shorts Program
^ "Kenneth Snelson: Worlds". Retrieved April 4, 2024.
^ Kenneth Snelson, Sculptor Who Fused Art, Science and Engineering, Dies at 89
^ Kenneth Snelson. "Outdoor Works". kennethsnelson.net. Kenneth Snelson. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
^ "Needle tower, 1968". krollermuller.nl. Kröller-Müller Museum. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
^ Kenneth Snelson. "Outdoor Works". kennethsnelson.net. Kenneth Snelson. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
^ Kenneth Snelson. "Outdoor Works". kennethsnelson.net. Kenneth Snelson. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
^ "Kenneth Snelson Untitled Maquette, 1975". Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved September 22, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Wellesley College Receives Permanent Gift of Snelson Sculpture | Wellesley College". Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
^ This description was judged by eye from the image in Google Earth. It could be improved by closer inspection. Freedom of panorama in the United States does not extend to art work. Thus, including photos of this in Wikimedia Commons would require the permission of the owner, Crown Center. Triple Crown sculpture, Wikidata Q66839784

Busch, Julia M., A Decade of Sculpture: the New Media in the 1960s Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (The Art Alliance Press: Philadelphia; Associated University Presses: London, 1974) ISBN 0-87982-007-1

External links

[1] "FAQ". Kennethsnelson.net. Archived from the original on December 23, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2021.

[2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 21, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[3] 38th Rotterdam Film Festival Shorts Program

[4] "Kenneth Snelson: Worlds". Retrieved April 4, 2024.

[5] Kenneth Snelson, Sculptor Who Fused Art, Science and Engineering, Dies at 89

[6] Kenneth Snelson. "Outdoor Works". kennethsnelson.net. Kenneth Snelson. Retrieved May 26, 2021.

[7] "Needle tower, 1968". krollermuller.nl. Kröller-Müller Museum. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

[8] Kenneth Snelson. "Outdoor Works". kennethsnelson.net. Kenneth Snelson. Retrieved May 26, 2021.

[9] Kenneth Snelson. "Outdoor Works". kennethsnelson.net. Kenneth Snelson. Retrieved May 26, 2021.

[10] "Kenneth Snelson Untitled Maquette, 1975". Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved September 22, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[11] "Wellesley College Receives Permanent Gift of Snelson Sculpture | Wellesley College". Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.

[12] This description was judged by eye from the image in Google Earth. It could be improved by closer inspection. Freedom of panorama in the United States does not extend to art work. Thus, including photos of this in Wikimedia Commons would require the permission of the owner, Crown Center. Triple Crown sculpture, Wikidata Q66839784

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