Sculptor, born in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied at Yale and the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to New York City in 1956, where he became part of the milieu from which Pop Art developed. In 1963 he introduced soft sculptures of normally hard objects such as light switches, for which he became best known. His projects for huge monuments in public places have occasionally been realized, as in the ‘Colossal Ashtray with Fagends’ at the Pompidou Centre, Paris.
Claes Oldenburg (born January 28, 1929) is a sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large versions of everyday objects.
Oldenburg was born in Stockholm Sweden, the son of a Swedish diplomat. He studied at Yale University from 1946 to 1950, then returned to Chicago where he studied under the direction of Paul Weighardt at the Art Institute of Chicago until 1954.
While further developing his craft, he worked as a cub reporter at the City News Bureau of Chicago.
Perhaps the most memorable aspects of Oldenburg's works are the colossal sculptures that he has made.
Many of Oldenburg's giant sculptures of mundane objects elicited public ridicule before being embraced as whimsical, insightful, and fun additions to public outdoor art. In the 1960s he became associated with the Pop Art movement and attended many so-called happenings, which were performance art related productions of that time. This brash, often humorous approach to art, was at great odds with the prevailing sensibility that, by its nature, art dealt with "profound" expressions or ideas. But Oldenburg's spirited art found first a niche then a great popularity that endures to this day.
He has collaborated since 1976 with Dutch/American pop sculptor Coosje van Bruggen.
In addition to freestanding projects, he occasionally contributes to architectural projects, most notably the Chiat\Day advertising agency headquarters in the Venice district of Los Angeles, California -- the main entrance is a pair of giant black binoculars.
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