Jack Vanarsky left Buenos Aires for Paris in 1962 and three years later invented his figurative mobiles, sculptures animated by a movement whose forms he never stopped exploring. A co-founder of the Groupe Automat, he made Livremonde for the Universal Exhibition in Seville, in 1992. One of his own works accompanies him here, which is rare, and three words are enough to name him.
The story
Born in Patagonia, Jack Vanarsky settled in Paris in 1962, after studying architecture in Buenos Aires. He was not yet thirty when he invented, in 1965, his first figurative mobiles — sculptures cut into thin strips and set moving by a mechanism.
A co-founder of the Groupe Automat — shown at the Paris Biennale in 1967, then at the Espace Latino-Américain in Paris in 1980 alongside Arthur Luiz Piza — he made Livremonde in 1992 for the French pavilion of the Seville World's Fair: the work is now on show at the Espace des Sciences in Rennes.
He died in 2009. In Division 11, on the chemin Denon, his grave is adorned with one of his own works: a rare case at Père-Lachaise, and perhaps the plainest tribute there is, since the inscription says only “Jack VANARSKY, sculpteur, 1936-2009”.
The grave
A grave adorned with one of his own works: it is one of the rare examples of modern sculpture at Père-Lachaise, and one of the rare cases, in any period, of an artist resting beneath a piece from his own hand. The inscription is in keeping, reduced to the trade: “Jack VANARSKY, sculpteur, 1936-2009.” — sculptor. Neither Argentina, nor the Groupe Automat, nor Livremonde — the work set upon the tomb is enough.
On site, do not miss
The tomb is adorned with a sculpture from his own hand — one of the cemetery's rare examples of modern sculpture. The inscription is reduced to three facts: “Jack VANARSKY, sculpteur, 1936-2009” — sculptor.
Visitors' questions
Where is Jack Vanarsky's grave?
In Division 11, chemin Denon, third row — the Division of Chopin. It is adorned with one of his own sculptures, a rare thing: few artists in the cemetery lie beneath a piece from their own hand.
Fernand ArbelotWhat are his figurative mobiles?
The form he invented from 1965 onwards: figurative sculptures brought to life by movement. He had studied at the faculty of architecture in Buenos Aires before settling in Paris in 1962, where he spent the rest of his life.
Carlos Cruz-DiezWhat was the Groupe Automat?
A collective he co-founded, shown at the Paris Biennale in 1967 and then at the Espace latino-américain in Paris in 1980, with Arthur Luiz Piza — one of the homes of Latin American kinetic art in Paris.
Téo HernandezWhat is his best-known work?
Livremonde, the book-world, made in 1992 for the Universal Exhibition in Seville: it was that piece that brought him international recognition. His epitaph, for its part, runs to three words — “Jack VANARSKY, sculpteur”.
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