“Artists have a special part to play in opposing extinction,” said the artist Gustav Metzger, “if only on a theoretical, intellectual basis.” Born in 1926, Metzger was one of the 20th century’s most ardent artist-environmentalists. His multimedia works honed in on the hovering theme of destruction, and in 1959 he wrote a manifesto that launched the concept of Auto-Destructive Art, which was a reaction to the horrors of W.W. II. Metzger died in 2017, after a long life of activism. Works from his lengthy career are here on view, including Liquid Crystal Environment (1965/2021), a panoramic installation that employs heat-sensitive liquid crystals to create colors and patterns projected into space. —E.C.
The Arts Intel Report
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
Gustav Metzger
© the Estate Gustav Metzger and the Gustav Metzger Foundation. Photo: Ken Adlard.