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Kenneth Snelson

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Nationality
  
American

Movies
  
A Touch of Magic

Spouse
  
Katherine (m. 1972)


Role
  
Sculptor

Name
  
Kenneth Snelson

Known for
  
Sculpture, Photography

Kenneth Snelson wwwaskyfilledwithshootingstarscomwordpresswpc

Born
  
June 29, 1927 (age 96) (
1927-06-29
)

Artwork
  
Needle Tower, Needle Tower II, Forest Devil

People also search for
  
Victor Solow, Joseph Moncure March, Edward Eliscu, Henry van de Velde, Stanley Meredith

Tensegrity sculpture self assemble kenneth snelson


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

Contents

Kenneth Snelson Marlborough Gallery Kenneth Snelson Gallery Artwork

Snelson said his former professor Buckminster Fuller took credit for Snelson's discovery of the concept that Fuller named tensegrity. Fuller gave the idea its name, combining 'tension' and 'structural integrity.' The height and strength of Snelson's sculptures, which are often delicate in appearance, depend on the tension between rigid pipes and flexible cables.

Kenneth Snelson VXinSnow67jpg

Kenneth snelson 1989 interview


Biography

Kenneth Snelson tensegrity Snelson Kenneth

Snelson was born in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1927. He studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene, at the Black Mountain College, 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. He lived in New York City with his wife, Katherine.

Kenneth Snelson maraterry79jpg

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.

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

Honours and awards

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

  • Newport, 1968, M. Margulies, Coconut Grove
  • Iowa

  • Four Module Piece, 1968, Terrell Mill 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,
  • 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
  • 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)
  • 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
  • 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
  • Dragon, 2000–03
  • References

    Kenneth Snelson Wikipedia