Primary Structures (1966 exhibition)

Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors was an exhibition presented by the Jewish Museum in New York City from April 27 to June 12 in 1966.

The show was a survey of recent work in sculpture by artists from the Northeast United States, California and Great Britain that shared general characteristics of scale, simplified geometry and smooth, often colorful, industrial surfaces.

This exhibit was a critical and media success as reported in Time[3] and Newsweek,[4] presenting the public with a show dedicated to a "New Art".

I don't see... why one technique is any more essentially art than another..."[6] This show ushered in a radical new way of presenting ideas and space that did not rely on the artist's hand, but rather on the final result.

[7] It appeared that Primary Structures was to be formulated around Anthony Caro's former St. Martin's students, and the American group led by a relatively established Tony Smith.