Paul Thek made his debut as a traditional painter in the 1950s, but later evolved into a sculptor and installation artist. Around 1967, after an earlier trip through Europe studying art, he once again crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He started to build large, temporary environments with transient materials. Several museums immediately showed an interest. When Thek returned to the United States in 1976, his groundbreaking work from the 1960s had been forgotten. Unlike in Europe, his work in America remained under the radar of the art world. It was not until the early 2000s, which saw a revival of interest in the artist’s personal mythology, that Thek’s work began to exert a profound influence on a new generation of artists.
