George Rickey

George Rickey is known for abstract kinetic sculptures, inspired by Alexander Calder’s mobiles and the geometric forms of Constructivism. “His work was in step with new sculpture trends toward abstract simplification,” wrote New York Times critic Ken Johnson. Yet, slight variations in air currents could make the sculptures—comprised of lines, planes, rotors, volumes, and churns—oscillate or gyrate, an effect translated especially impressively in his large-scale works. For instance, passing breezes cause the stainless steel bars to pivot 360 degrees around a central post in the enormous Two Lines up Eccentric VI (1977), forming graceful patterns against the sky. Unlike his peer in kinetic sculpture, Jean Tinguely, Rickey never used internal motors or engines to power his sculptures’ movement.