Injun

1960s

Happenings of the “Ray Gun Theater”

In the 1960s Oldenburg, now associated with Pop art, staged happenings he called the “Ray Gun Theater”, with Lucas Samaras, Tom Wesselmann, Carolee Schneemann and others; his first wife Patty Mucha, who sewed many of his early soft sculptures — “Floor Hamburger”, “Floor Cone”, “Floor Cake” — was a constant performer.

December 1961

“The Store” on the Lower East Side

In 1961 Oldenburg switched to sculptures of chicken wire covered with plaster-soaked canvas and enamel paint — clothing and food. In December he rented a store on Manhattan's Lower East Side for “The Store”, a month-long installation first presented at the Martha Jackson Gallery and stocked with sculptures in the form of consumer goods.

1965

Projects for imaginary monuments

From 1965 Oldenburg drew projects for imaginary outdoor monuments — at first small collages: a fat, fuzzy teddy bear looming over the fields of Central Park (1965), lipsticks in Piccadilly Circus, London (1966).

1969

Solo show at MoMA

In 1969 the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a solo exhibition of Oldenburg's work; the same year he contributed a drawing to the Moon Museum.

1970

Meets Coosje van Bruggen

In 1970, when his first major retrospective travelled to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Oldenburg met Coosje van Bruggen, a curator there — his future wife and collaborator.

1970

Exhibition at the Tate Gallery

In 1970 London's Tate Gallery showed a solo exhibition of Oldenburg's work, chronicled in James Scott's twin-projection documentary “The Great Ice Cream Robbery”.