Oldenburg, Claes Thure

Oldenburg, Claes Thure (1929- ), American sculptor, who was a pioneer of Pop Art. He was born in Stockholm, where his father was a diplomat. Between 1960 and 1965, Oldenburg conducted a number of so-called happenings, typical of which was Autobodys (1964, Los Angeles), which involved cars, crowds of people, and quantities of ice cubes in a participational art event. The crudely painted props used in these events formed the basis of much of his later sculpture. In 1961 he opened a shop in New York where he sold plaster replicas of hamburgers, sandwiches, sundaes, and other fast food. Later versions of these objects were constructed on a gigantic scale from vinyl stuffed with foam rubber. He continued to use similar soft materials, especially vinyl and canvas, in later sculptural series of objects such as bathroom fixtures, fans, and typewriters. These works, called soft sculptures, transform familiar everyday objects into sagging heaps; they are intended both as innovative sensual experiences and as commentary on the social import of the objects portrayed. Oldenburg has also worked in fibreglass and metal; his huge metal Geometric Mouse exists in several versions, adorning plazas in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Houston, Texas.

Since the late 1970s, Oldenburg has been working on large-scale projects with his wife, the art historian Coosje van Bruggen. Major international exhibitions of his work took place in 1969 (Museum of Modern Art, New York), 1977 (Moderna Museet, Stockholm, and Kunsthalle, Tübingen), 1989 (Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg), and 1995-1996 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.).