 KINETIC
SCULPTURES
AT THE MCNAY
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF
Still photos don’t do them justice. To
really appreciate George Rickey’s kinetic
sculptures, you have to see them in three
dimensions. Predominantly made of silvery
stainless steel, the elegant, largely abstract
pieces are in a state of perpetual gentle
motion as if animated by mysterious forces
from within.
The late Indiana-born artist’s work is
featured through Jan. 11 in a must-see
show at the McNay Art Museum under
the title George Rickey Kinetic Sculpture:
A Retrospective.
The son of an engineer and grandson
of a clockmaker, Rickey himself developed
an interest in the principles of physics and
things mechanical during his WWII work in
aircraft and gunnery systems research and
maintenance. In his art, he used these principles
to make all sorts of geometrical
parts — from huge vertical blades and flat
rectangular plates to cubes, spirals and triangles — oscillate, twirl, swing, shiver and
“breathe” with a kind of dreamy meditative
grace that mesmerizes the viewer.
There are no secret machines controlling
these rhythms. It’s all a matter of precise
balances and ordinary air movement.
 In the press release, McNay’s director
William Chiego described the effect in
these words: “There is a sense of balance
and a sense of the romantic in Rickey’s
work, as if the artist were moved by the
forces of nature and the elegance of
pure form.”
Put together by the Vero Beach
(Florida) Museum of Art, the retrospective
features 47 works, both outdoors and
inside the sleek new Stieren Center.
The McNay’s hours are 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and
noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more
Information, call (210) 824-5368.
Among the kinetic sculptures by
George Rickey on display at the
McNay Art Museum are Water Plant, Two
Red Lines, Six Random Lines
Excentric II and Unstable Cube VI.
Courtesy of the McNay.
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