Len Lye
1901–1980
Introduction
Leonard Charles Huia Lye (; 5 July 1901 – 15 May 1980) was a New Zealand artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives including the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Pacific Film Archive at University of California, Berkeley. Lye's sculptures are found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Berkeley Art Museum. Although he became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1950, much of his work went to New Zealand after his death, where it is housed at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth.
Wikidata identifier
Q1288566
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed April 28, 2025.
Introduction
Lye was born in New Zealand, but moved to Australia, Samoa, and England, where he remained from 1926-1944. He pioneered the development of "direct" filmmaking: creating motion pictures by drawing, painting, and scratching directly on film. He made 24 films using various methods, many without use of a camera. He relocated to New York in 1944 and continued filmmaking until 1958, when he began constructing kinetic sculptures.
Country of birth
New Zealand
Roles
Artist, cinematographer, painter, poet, sculptor, writer
ULAN identifier
500074084
Names
Len Lye, Leonard Charles Huai, Leonard Charles Huia Lye
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed April 28, 2025.
