Yaacov Agam
| Yaacov Agam | |
|---|---|
Yaacov Agam in front of a building he decorated in Tel Baruch, Tel Aviv, Israel
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| Native name | יעקב אגם |
| Born |
Yaakov Gipstein 11 May 1928 Rishon LeZion, Mandate Palestine |
| Citizenship | Israeli |
| Alma mater | The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, the Kunstgewerbe Schule |
| Occupation | Sculptor and experimental artist |
| Known for | Contributions to optical and kinetic art |
Yaacov Agam (Hebrew: יעקב אגם; born 11 May 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist best known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art.
Yaacov Agam was born Yaakov Gibstein in Rishon LeZion, then Mandate Palestine. His father, Yehoshua Gibstein, was a rabbi and a kabbalist.
Agam trained at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, before moving to Zürich, Switzerland in 1949, where he studied under Johannes Itten (1888–1967) at the Kunstgewerbe Schule, and was also influenced by the painter and sculptor Max Bill (1908–1994).
In 1951 Agam went to Paris, France, where he still lives. He has a daughter and two sons, one of whom is the photographer Ron Agam.
Agam's first solo exhibition was at the Galerie Craven, Paris, in 1953, and he exhibited three works at the 1954 Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. He established himself as one of the leading pioneers of kinetic art at the Le Mouvement exhibition at the Galerie Denise René, Paris, in 1955, alongside such artists as Jesús Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz-Díez, Pol Bury, Alexander Calder and Jean Tinguely.
In 1964, Agam wrote his artistic credo, unchanged since then.
My intention was to create a work of art which would transcend the visible, which cannot be perceived except in stages, with the understanding that it is a partial revelation and not the perpetuation of the existing. My aim is to show what can be seen within the limits of possibility which exists in the midst of coming into being.
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