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Nazi rallies and The Who - the art of destruction

Gustav Metzger is famous for his response to the Nuremberg marches - and for inspiring 1960s rock giants.

October 8, 2009 16:05
Metzger’s Liquid Crystal Environment 2005-2009: slide projections of this sort were shown during concerts by The Who and Cream in the 60s . Who guitarist Pete Townsend says Metzger inspired him to smash his guitar on stage

By

Julia Weiner ,

Julia Weiner

4 min read

A plastic bag full of rubbish; piles and piles of newspaper; a vandalised car. No, not a street in a particularly blighted housing estate, but London’s Serpentine Gallery, which is currently hosting the work of influential Jewish artist, Gustav Metzger.

The exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the date when Metzger decided to abandon painting to use everyday objects in his art as a critique of the terrible wastage of consumer society. Now aged 83, he continues to make new work that acts as a wake-up call to the public.

In person, Metzger is a shy, reticent man. He refuses to be photographed and objects to his words — quietly spoken with just a hint of his native German accent remaining — being taped.

He was born in 1926 in Nuremberg. “My father was an intensely religious person,” he says. “He lived for his religion and for his family. He prayed daily and went to synagogue. I was brought up in that atmosphere.”
Metzger was sent to Hebrew classes from the age of three and feels strongly that his early study of Torah and Talmud was hugely influential.