Panamarenko

About Panamarenko Panamarenko

In the 1950s, Henri Van Herwegen, known as Panamarenko, attended the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts and at the same time 
acquired extensive knowledge of the physical sciences, chemistry and mechanics.

During this period, always on the lookout for new materials and new possibilities for 
action, he carried out the most incredible experiments with strange and artificial 
materials together with Hugo Heyrman.
He coined his pseudonym, a possible contraction of Pan American and Co, or perhaps 
the name of a Soviet general heard on the radio.
In 1965, under his now definitive pseudonym, Panamarenko took part in a series of 
happenings, letting himself be guided by this chance, to which he attributed his 
meeting with Joseph Beuys, who invited him to exhibit at the Düsseldorf Academy in 
1968. 
His first known works already mixed the laws of physics with a playfulness close to 
cartoons: Magnetic shoes (with matching padded hat) for walking "on" a metal 
ceiling, etc.

Over the years, his identity has been revealed as a constant exploration of space, 
movement and gravity.
The expression of this movement, both poetic and scientific, will take the most 
diverse forms.
Flying or rolling machines, motorised or not, manufactured or remaining in the state 
of models, to which Panamarenko brings a scientific attention nourished by the study 
of insect flight, energy sources, propulsion, without ever losing sight of his ultimate 
intention as an artist: the poetic symbiosis with nature and the elements.

In 1967, he built his first plane, inaugurating the long series of flying machines 
(Flying Carpet, 1980, drawing). Panamarenko continued this approach with his 
creation of "Rucksack", individual engines that can be carried like a backpack, 
"Aeromodeller", exhibited at Documenta 5 in Kassel, and other creations, sometimes 
in model form, sometimes on a human scale. These creations mix references to insect 
life, such as a spring mechanism producing the vibrations of the wings, as in 
"Magameudon I" in 1972, or to allusions to Leonardo da Vinci and to great technical 
sophistication, such that most of these devices are actually capable of functioning 
(Bernouilli, 1995, various materials and motor). Panamarenko also dealt with 
underwater life (Scaphandre de l'homme de guerre portugais, 1990).

Born in Antwerp in 1940, passed away in 2019.