Harvard Art Museums > BR67.21: Gliding Glide Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Gliding Glide (Günther Uecker) , BR67.21,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 19, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/348955. This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text One of the strongest responses to the expressive abstract painting of the 1950s known as informel came from the Düsseldorf artists’ group ZERO, which Uecker joined in 1961. Members of the first generation to come of age in postwar Germany, ZERO artists sought to revitalize art through radical simplification. Adopting a minimalist vocabulary, they explored unconventional materials and new forms, producing objects, environments, and actions. Their interest in the intersection between art and nature led many to experiment with light. The nail, which functioned as a light modulator when used as a relief element, became Uecker’s primary material. Like his other nail-studded mobiles, Gliding Glide incorporates gentle movement. The sphere’s ability to turn, and the viewer’s own orbital movements, activate a delicate interplay between light and shadow, while the sharp, fixed point of the nail below reasserts an element of aggression. Identification and Creation Object Number BR67.21 People Günther Uecker, German (Wendorf, Germany born 1930) Title Gliding Glide Classification Sculpture Work Type sculpture Date 1959/1964 Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/348955 Physical Descriptions Dimensions sphere: 15.6 cm (6 1/8 in.) nail: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.) base: 27.9 × 60 cm (11 × 23 5/8 in.) Inscriptions and Marks Signed: in black ink on underside of base: G Uecker inscription: underside of base, black ink, in artist's hand: Schwebend, Schweben inscription: underside of base, black ink, in artist's hand: Kugel 1959 [64 inscribed above 59] Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Association Fund Copyright © Günther Uecker / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany Accession Year 1967 Object Number BR67.21 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History Dieter Honisch, Uecker, Klett-Cotta (Stuttgart, Germany, 1983), no. 391 Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 2007), p. 51 Exhibition History German Sculpture, 1500 - 1960: A New Installation, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 09/05/1984 - 12/31/1984 German Sculpture from the Permanent Collection, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 01/21/1986 - 03/10/1986 Basic Research: A Selection of Postwar German Painting and Sculpture, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 09/20/2003 - 04/09/2006 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 04/07/2017 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
