Gustav Metzger: Works

2006-05-20 until 2006-08-27
Lund Konsthall
Lund, , SE Sweden

In the exhibition Gustav Metzger: Works Lund Konsthall presents the work Karba for the first time. Karba was intended for Documenta 5 in Kassel in 1972, but was never realised. The work consists of four cars placed around a large plastic cube, where their exhaust fumes are collected. The work will become more and more blackened as the exhibition goes on. Karba is a vigorous sculpture, a protest against the continued pollution of the environment, a study of a protracted physical process. Gustav Metzger�s first Manifesto for an Auto-Destructive Art from 1959 proved directional for one of the most uncompromising artistic careers in our time. Auto-destructive art is made to be self-destroyed. The act of destruction is crucial to the work.

Gustav Metzger was born in Nuremberg in 1926 to a Polish-Jewish family, but he has lived and worked in England his entire adult life. He was among the earliest environmental activists, protesting against increased motoring and extensive traffic construction in London already in the 1940s. He was also among the founders of the movement against nuclear weapons, and like Bertrand Russell he was jailed for his early protests. Gustav Metzger's manifesto for auto-destructive art from 1959 and his actions, symposia and lectures were important events on the British avant-garde scene of the 1960s.

Politics and actions have been central to Gustav Metzger's artistic practice. A growing interest in his work has resulted in several exhibitions in recent years. The exhibition in Lund contains both earlier 'autodestructive' works and new productions.