Kenneth Snelson (June 29, 1927 – December 22, 2016) was an American contemporary sculptor and photographer. His sculptural works are composed of flexible and rigid components arranged according to the idea of 'tensegrity'. Snelson preferred the descriptive term floating compression.

Snelson said his former professor Buckminster Fuller took credit for Snelson's discovery of the concept that Fuller named tensegrity. Fuller gave the idea its name, combining 'tension' and 'structural integrity.' The height and strength of Snelson's sculptures, which are often delicate in appearance, depend on the tension between rigid pipes and flexible cables.

Snelson was born in Pendleton, Oregon, in 1927. He studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene, at the Black Mountain College, and with Fernand Léger in Paris. His sculpture and photography have been exhibited at over 25 one-man shows in galleries around the world including the structurally seminal Park Place Gallery in New York in the 1960s. Snelson has also done research on the shape of the atom. Snelson continues to work in his SoHo studio, occasionally collaborating with animator Jonathan Monaghan. He lives in New York City with his wife, Katherine.

He holds five United States patents: #3,169,611: Discontinuous Compression Structures, February, 1965; #3,276,148: Model for Atomic Forms, October, 1966; #4,099,339: Model for Atomic Forms, July, 1978; and #6,017,220: Magnetic Geometric Building System; and most recently, #6,739,937: Space Frame Structure Made by 3-D Weaving of Rod Members, May 25, 2004.

Snelson was a founding member of ConStruct, the artist-owned gallery that promoted and organized large-scale sculpture exhibitions throughout the United States. Other founding members include Mark di Suvero, John Raymond Henry, Lyman Kipp and Charles Ginnever.

After suffering from prostate cancer, he died December 22, 2016.

Honours and awards

• (1999) Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center.

Sculptures in public collections and public spaces

United States Alabama

• Mora Terry II, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham

California

• City Boots, 1968, J. Patrick Lannon Foundation, Los Angeles
• Mozart I, 1982, Stanford University, Palo Alto

District of Columbia

• Needle Tower, 1968, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington
• Untitled Maquette, 1975, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington[4]

Florida

• Newport, 1968, M. Margulies, Coconut Grove

Iowa

• Four Module Piece, 1968, Terrell Mill Park, Iowa City

Louisiana

• Virlane Tower, 1981, Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA, New Orleans

Maryland

• B-Tree, 1981, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
• Easy Landing, 1977, City of Baltimore, Baltimore
• Six Number Two, 1967, Annmarie Sculpture Garden (Smithsonian partner/annex site), Solomons, Maryland

Massachusetts

• Mozart III, 2008, Science Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley,[5]

Michigan

• Indexer II, 2001, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• B-Tree II, 2005, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids

Missouri

• Triple Crown, 1991, Hallmark, Inc. Kansas City

Nebraska

• Able Charlie, 1983, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha

New York

• Coronation Day, 1980, City of Buffalo, Buffalo
• E.C. Column, 1969–81, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo
• Four Chances, 1982, Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo
• Fair Leda, 1969, Nelson Rockefeller Estate
• Free Ride Home, 1974, Storm King Art Center, Mountainville
• Mozart II, 1982, Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden at Pepsico, Purchase
• Sun River, 1967, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
• One World Trade Center antenna/spire, 2006, One World Trade Center, New York

New Jersey

• Northwood II, 1970, Compton Quad, Graduate College, Princeton, Mercer

North Carolina

• Northwood II(maquette), 1970, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville

Pennsylvania

• Forest Devil, 1975–77, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh

Ohio

• Forest Devil, 1975, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati
• V-X, 1968, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus

Oklahoma

• Sleeping Dragon, 2002–03, Kirkpatrick Oil Company Building, Oklahoma City

Tennessee

• Dragon II, 2005, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville
• V-X-II, 1973-4, Hunter Museum, Chattanooga

Texas

• Northwood, 1969, Northwood Institute, Cedar Hills

Vermont

• "Hard Wired", Bennington (College)

International Germany

• Soft Landing, 1975–77, Berlin Nationalgalerie, Berlin
• Avenue K, 1968, City of Hannover

The Netherlands

• Easy-K, 1970, Sonsbeek ‘70, Arnhem
• Needle Tower II, 1969, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo

Japan

• Osaka, 1970, Japan Iron & Steel Federation, Kobe
• T-Zone Flight, 1995, JT Building, Toranomon, Tokyo
• Landing, 1970, Wakayama Prefecture Museum, Wakayama

Unknown Location

• Audrey I, 1966, Private Collection
• Audrey II, 1966, Private Collection
• Equilateral Quivering Tower, 1973–92
• Tri-Core Column, 1974
• Wing I, 1992; Ed. 4, Private collection
• Rainbow Arch, 2001
• Dragon, 2000–03