Legacy gift represents largest collection of the artist’s work worldwide
South Bend, Ind. – In a landmark retrospective, the newly opened Raclin Murphy Museum of
Art at the University of Notre Dame pays tribute to one of the most original and inventive artists
of the last half-century with “Equal Forces: The Sculpture and Photography of Kenneth
Snelson,” on view March 19-July 7. The first museum exhibition since Snelson’s death
celebrates a legacy gift from the artist’s family containing 43 sculptures and 67 photographs. The
gift represents the largest repository of Snelson’s work in the world and establishes the Kenneth
Snelson Collection at the University of Notre Dame.
An internationally renowned artist, Snelson (American, 1927-2016) is best known for his
gravity-defying abstract sculptures. An early interest in optics, engineering and photography led
him to attend Black Mountain College in North Carolina where he studied with Josef Albers and
became an assistant of Buckminster Fuller, an architect and futurist best known for developing
the geodesic dome.
Snelson was fascinated by physical forces in three-dimensional space and invented a
structural system known as tensegrity, combining principles of tension and structural integrity.
His unique sculptural works are composed of rigid components, such as metal pipes with flexible
cables, suspended and arranged in a way that makes the seemingly weightless structures appear
to float.
“An exceptional investigation of sculpture, photography, engineering and science, ‘Equal
Forces’ highlights Kenneth Snelson’s inquisitive nature, from his endeavors in art to his
investigations into the structure of the atom, and reveals the boundlessness of experimentation
fueled by art,” said Joseph Antenucci Becherer, director of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art.
“As a university museum, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art encourages students, faculty,
scholars and members of the community to use our collection as a resource, fueling research,
new perspectives and a spirt of inventiveness.”
“Equal Forces” will showcase works spanning Snelson’s entire career, including sculpture
from the late 1940s when he was a student to global projects in the early 20th century and
experimental photography from the 1970s through the 1990s in the United States, Europe and
Japan. The artist’s ingenuity and skill are demonstrated through the dynamic equilibrium of his
large-scale sculptures, including “E.C. Tower Model” (1981), in which all parts of the structure
are necessary for it to hold into place. The title of the exhibition, “Equal Forces,” recognizes both
the structural essence of Snelson’s sculpture and the vitality of both sculpture and photography to
his celebrated career.
An accomplished photographer, Snelson maintained a lifelong commitment to photography
that was inspired in part by his father, an amateur photographer and owner of a camera store. As
with his sculptures, he experimented broadly and pushed the boundaries of the medium,
incorporating panorama imagery a generation before the advent of digital technology. In a series
of New York City panoramas created in the late 1970s, the artist modified a vintage 1917 16-inch
Cirkut camera. Weighing 80 pounds, the camera was one of only 30 of its kind ever made.
“Equal Forces” is the premiere temporary exhibition at the new Raclin Murphy Museum of
Art. Designed by the award-winning Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA), the 70,000-
square-foot facility opened its doors to the public on December 1, 2023. A dramatic new
gateway to Notre Dame, the expanded home for the University’s robust art collections honors
both tradition and innovation through its beautifully proportioned galleries, contemporary artist
commissions and exterior that harmonizes with historic buildings on campus. In addition to the
exhibition, additional sculptures by Snelson are on display in the Museum’s lower-level galleries
and sculpture court.
“Snelson’s work was centered around a search for understanding as he experimented with
art, science and engineering,” said David Acton, curator of photographs at the Raclin Murphy
Museum of Art. “He revolutionized structural principals of sculpture and architecture and then
visualized his notion of floating compression through colossal towers, mesmerizing cantilevers
and seemingly delicate arches.”
Kenneth Snelson was born in Pendleton, Oregon. He attended the University of Oregon
(Eugene, Oregon) and Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, North Carolina) and later
studied at the Institute of Design at Illinois Tech in Chicago and the Académie de Montmartre in
Paris. Snelson’s curious disposition and technical brilliance led to extensive research into atomic
structure and the awarding of five United States patents. His sculptures are permanently installed
in public collections and spaces worldwide and he has been recognized with numerous awards,
including the 1999 Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the
International Sculpture Center, received jointly with kinetic sculptor and friend George Rickey.
“Equal Forces: The Sculpture and Photography of Kenneth Snelson” was made possible by the
Duncan Family Endowment for American Art and the Milly and Fritz Kaeser Endowment for
Photography.
###
About the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
With origins dating to 1875, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art (formerly Snite Museum of Art)
is considered one of the oldest and most highly regarded university art museums in America.
Founded on the principle that art is essential to understanding individual, shared and diverse
human experiences and beliefs, the Museum encourages close looking and critical thinking.
Experiences with significant, original works of art are intended to stimulate inquiry, dialogue and
wonder for audiences across the academy, the community and around the world—all in support
of the University of Notre Dame’s Catholic mission. The renowned permanent collection
contains more than 30,000 works that represent many cultures and periods of world art
history. For more information, visit raclinmurphymuseum.nd.edu.
For more information on the new building, visit raclinmurphymuseum.nd.edu.
Media contact:
Gina Costa
Communications Program Director
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
574-631-4720
gcosta@nd.edu