Pol Bury. Time in Motion
23.02 - 04.06.2017
BOZAR presents a major retrospective on the diverse oeuvre of iconic Belgian
artist Pol Bury.
Pol Bury, 74 sphères sur un plan (detail),
1979. Private Collection © Photo by JeanFrançois De Witte, Brussels
Pol Bury at the exhibition entitled Pol Bury. Ponctuations
érectiles et molles, Smith Gallery, Brussels, 1961,
photographer unknown
Pol Bury (La Louvière, 1922 – Paris, 2005) is best known for the fountains and sculptures which he
designed for public spaces. But he stood for so much more than that: he was a prolific painter,
sculptor, jewellery designer, writer and graphic designer. Having experimented with painting in
the early years he turned to moving sculpture in the 1950s. In that period he began to create
motorised objects, which were completely innovative and bore no relation to known artistic
traditions or, for that matter, reality. Hence his place in the art history books as one of the pioneers of
kinetic art.
Though Bury was one of the most prolific international Belgian artists of his generation - his
fountains and moving sculptures were known from New York to Japan! - his work has been sidelined
in recent years. His constant drive for innovation, his probing analysis of time and motion and his use
of new materials such as brass, stainless steel, motors and magnets have made his work
surprisingly contemporary today. High time, in other words, to revisit one of our most significant
post-war artists!
The exhibition features 120 artworks (65 motorised) and a selection of documentation, jewellery
and graphic pieces and presents a full overview of his rich oeuvre. The highlights include a working
fountain in the exhibition and 4087 cylindres érectiles, a monumental installation 7 metres long.
The retrospective is concurrent with an exhibition on French artist Yves Klein (Centre for Fine Arts,
24/03 - 27/08/2017). An excellent choice, given that both Pol Bury and Yves Klein, besides being
contemporaries, had links to the ZERO art movement.
1
The Exhibition
Pol Bury. Time in Motion gives a chronological overview of the artist's career through 120 artworks from his lesser known early years, when his paintings were influenced by René Magritte, the
surrealists and Cobra, through the innovative, kinetic sculptures, such as the plans mobiles and
ponctuations, to the monumental metal sculptures and fountains which brought him fame in his later
years.
The absolute eye-catcher is, without a doubt, a working fountain, which has been set up in the
exhibition. There are also a few top pieces to be seen, including 4087 cylindres érectiles, a
monumental installation, 7 metres in length, from the Pompidou Centre; an Erection molle from the
historic Zero collection Sammlung Lenz-Schönberg and a rare colour sculpture, 16 boules, 16 cubes
sur 8 rangées from the TATE collection in London.
Of the 120 artworks on display in the Pol Bury. Time in Motion exhibition, 65 are motorised. All will be
made to work at the exhibition (some by means of a timer). The exhibition includes extensive
documentation (historical catalogues, invitations, archive photos) and looks at some of Bury’s other
artistic endeavours, such as his jewellery, his graphic art, his literary creations and his illustrations.
Chief among these, of course, are L’Académie de Montbliart and Daily-Bul, the publishing house
which Bury established with André Balthazar in the 1950s. More than a publishing house, however,
Daily-Bul was an artistic laboratory known for its absurd humour, critical disposition and large and
cohesive network of writers and artists.
A Potted Biography of Pol Bury
Pol Bury (La Louvière, 1922 – Paris, 2005) was a Belgian painter, sculptor, jewellery designer,
writer and graphic designer. His early years read like a summary of Belgian fine art at the time: he
begins his career as a painter under the influence of Walloon poet Achille Chavée, and René Magritte,
and paints in the surrealist style until after the Second World War. Later, he exhibits his work with the
Jeune Peinture Belge group and the Cobra Movement. Around 1953 Bury takes a keen interest in
contemporary sculpture, inspired by Alexander
Calder, whom he discovered at the Maeght Gallery
in Paris. This is a pivotal point in his career and
eventually leads to his first ‘moving’ artworks, which
are initially moved by the viewer and later, motordriven. Bury becomes one of the leading
protagonists of kinetic art. He is known for the
extremely slow and unpredictable movements of
his sculptures and art objects.
In 1959 Bury gets his breakthrough, and blazes a trail
of his own with his first Ponctuations: these are
extremely slow-moving reliefs, bearing no relation to
any of the known art traditions of the time.
Pol Bury, Ponctuation – 1959, painted wood,
metal, electric motor, 70 cm Ø, Private collection,
Belgium © Luc Schrobiltgen, Brussels
The artist wins himself a place among the European
and American avant-garde and the period 1959–1968
is particularly rich and eventful for him. He takes part
in countless exhibitions, including the historic Le mouvement expo (Paris, the Denise René Gallery,
1955) and the groundbreaking exhibition Vision in Motion / Motion in Vision (Antwerp, Hessenhuis,
1959), where he meets Yves Klein. He exhibits his work at the Venice Biennale in 1964 and, in the
same year, exhibits in John Lefevre’s New York gallery (in which Pierre Alechinsky and Corneille have
also exhibited).
In the 1960s Bury pursues his career in New York, where he is highly successful. In the seventies he
lectures at various American universities, including Berkeley and Minneapolis.
The year 1968 makes another turning point in his career. Aimé Maeght, owner of the gallery at which
Bury discovered Calde’s work, persuades him to return to France with his new American wife and this
2
brings Bury to the most prestigious European
gallery of the day. The collaboration brings with
it new opportunities, thanks in part to funding
from the Maeght Gallery. With the exception of a
series of wooden reliefs, and the sculptures à
cordes, the artist is now able to concentrate on
monumental artworks, and, in 1978, on the
creation of fountains.
From the 1980s until his death in 2005 Bury
devotes most of his energies to fountains, the
works for which he is best known today.
Art Consultant
Pol Bury, 19 boules sur 12 plans formant un zigzag (FR) /
19 kogels op 12 vlakken in zigzag (NL), 1966, 60 x 122 x
10,2 cm, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique,
Bruxelles / Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van
België, Brussel (c) Foto : J. Geleyns
This exhibition was put together by BOZAR in
association with art consultant Gilles
Marquenie, who is an art historian (University of
Leuven) and authority on Pol Bury. He has been
studying the works of Pol bury since 2006 and has collaborated on exhibitions such as Pol Bury –
Retrospective 1922 – 2005, in the Patrick Derom Gallery (2007), Pol Bury. Côté Jardin in the Van
Buuren Museum in Brussels (2009) and Pol Bury, Instants donnés, 50 ans de sculpture in de
Fondation EDF in Paris (2015). In 2015 he began work on an online catalogue raisonné of Pol Bury’s
work (www.polbury.org).
Pol Bury, Losange disque triangle bleu
jaune – 1972, aquatint on paper, 80 x
60.5 cm, Private collection, Brussels ©
Luc Schrobiltgen, Brussels
3
Practical information
Pol Bury. Time in Motion
23.02 – 04.06.2017
Tickets: € 16 - 14 (BOZAR FRIENDS)
Art Consultant: Gilles Marquenie
With special thanks to Velma Bury
BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Ravensteinstraat 23, 1000 Brussels
Open: from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am > 6 pm (Thursday: 10 am > 9 pm)
Closed: Monday
Info & tickets
+32 (0)2 50 7 82 00 – www.bozar.be
Pol Bury, Boule sur un plan incliné – 1963, wood and electric
motor, 50 x 50 x 35 cm, Private collection, Brussels © Luc
Schrobiltgen, Brussels
4