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Jean Tinguely
Lola T. 180 - Mémorial pour Joakim B.
1988
Material / technique: 2 Lola chassis, skulls, scrap iron, electric motor
Size: 350 x 500 x 180 cm
Inv.Number: 11321
Catalog: Bischofberger 0808
Creditline: Museum Tinguely, Basel, Donation Niki de Saint Phalle
“Lola T. 180” belongs to the series of altars Jean Tinguely began to create in the early 1980s. At the same time, the large sculpture is a memorial to Tinguely’s friend Joakim Bonnier, a Swedish race car driver who died in a fatal crash in 1972. The triptych is built on a base made of two destroyed Lola race car chassis. The movements of the mudguards and the rotation of the wheels on the middle panel are slow, almost ponderous, and are accompanied by muffled yawing noises. The altar is crowned by skulls, bones and tyre parts, while on the predella the heart spins before a red background. The small flanking sculptures, the “acolytes“, reflect Tinguely’s Catholic upbringing. The artist further intensified by means of these skull sculptures the monumental impact of the three-part altar. With “Lola T. 180” Tinguely commemorated his deceased friend and at the same time the perpetual presence of death at the racetrack.
Pictures in our Collection
The following applies for uses of pictures in relation to our collection:
Museum Tinguely does not own any copyright in works by Jean Tinguely or other artists in the collection. The clarification of these rights and payment in respect of them is a matter for the applicant. In Switzerland, the collecting society responsible for this is ProLitteris, Zurich (link website: www.prolitteris.ch). Museum Tinguely undertakes no liability for third party claims arising from infringement of copyright and personality rights.
Collection of Museum Tinguely
Works and work groups belonging to all phases of Jean Tinguely’s career are to be found in the museum's collection. Along with selected temporary loans, they afford the visitor an extensive view of the artist’s career. Apart from sculptures, the collection furthermore comprises a large number of drawings and letter-drawings, documents, exhibition posters, catalogues and documentation such as photographs. In the measure of the possible all the exhibits are accessible to the public and regularly shown, be it in the permanent collection or as loans to exhibitions worldwide.
The museum’s collections are the result of a generous donation by the artist’s widow, Niki de Saint Phalle, made on the occasion of its foundation, a donation of works from the Roche collection, as well as several other gifts and acquisitions.
>> Biography of Jean Tinguely
>> History of the collection