Gustav Metzger

Gustav Metzger was born to Polish-Jewish parents in Nuremberg, Germany in 1926 and came to Britain as a refugee under the auspices of the Refugee Children movement.

Related Topics:
Polish-Jewish - Nuremberg - Germany - 1926 - Britain - Refugee - Refugee Children

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He has been stateless since the 1940s.

Related Topics:
Stateless - 1940s

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He is known as the leading exponent of Auto-Destructive Art and part of the Fluxus movement of the 1960s.

Related Topics:
Auto-Destructive Art - Fluxus

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He was also an active member of CND and attended their early rocket base campaigns of direct action and occupation.

Related Topics:
CND - Direct action - Occupation

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In 1959 he published the first auto-destructive manifesto Auto-Destructive Art. This was given as a lecture to the Architecture Association in 1964, which was taken over by students as an artistic 'Happening'.

Related Topics:
Architecture Association - Happening

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In 1961, he participated in the Festival of Misfits with the Fluxus group, in Gallery One, London. He exhibited the front page of the Daily Mirror covering the Vietnam War. His contribution was rejected by the other participants.

Related Topics:
Festival of Misfits - Gallery One - London - The Daily Mirror - Vietnam War

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Around the same time, he was lecturing at Ealing Art College, where one of his students was rock musician Pete Townshend, who later cited Metzger's concepts as an influence for his famous guitar-smashing during performances of The Who.

Related Topics:
Ealing Art College - Pete Townshend - The Who

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Since then Metzger has continued to make challenging art works around the world. He currently lives and works in East London.

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