Carlos Cruz-Diez - artist, Miami, April 2012, copyright © Atelier Cruz-Diez Paris, photo by Rolando de La Fuente

Carlos Cruz-Diez

Kinetic Art, Op Art

November 24, 2013

French-Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923-2019) was the most renowned color theorist of the 20th century. His paintings and kinetic installations put color into motion evoking full bodily sensations in the viewers. The artist was one of the most prominent figures of the Optical and Kinetic Art movement that saw color as the separate reality in time and space, yet constantly present. Today, Cruz-Diez’s works are part of several permanent collections, including Centre Pompidou in Paris, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Tate Modern in London.

Carlos Cruz-Diez - Color Aditivo betzaida B1, 2016
Carlos Cruz-Diez - Color Aditivo betzaida B1, 2016. Painting; 60 x 60 cm.

Embracing the Illusion of Movement

Carlos Cruz-Diez was born in Caracas, Venezuela and studied Visual Applied Arts at the Escuela de Bellas Artes. At the same time, he worked for several major magazines in Venezuela, such as El Farol and La Esfera, as a designer and illustrator. However, his major artistic breakthrough happened after the move to Spain. There he created abstract compositions Objetos Rítmicos Móviles and Parénquimas. After a brief visit to Paris, he returned to Venezuela and opened Estudio de Artes Visuales, where he explored the optical and kinetic forms in art. Over time the investigation evolved into a movement thanks to Alejandro Otero and Jesús Rafael Soto. In the 1960s, he permanently relocated to Paris with his family.

Cruz-Diez created the illusion of movement by utilizing lines of contrasting colors, the so-called Moiré effect that can best be seen in his series titled Physiochrome. For a time he worked as a teacher at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. The French government awarded him the medal of Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002.

Carlos Cruz-Diez - Transchromies a 6 elements, 2010
Carlos Cruz-Diez - Transchromies a 6 elements, 2010. Object; 54 x 20 x 20 cm

Technology of Color

During the mid-fifties, Cruz-Diez finished eight investigations about the conduct of color in paintings, such as Chromatic Induction, Color in Space, Chromosaturation, and Additive Color. The artist created exquisite works where the viewer was an active participant. Thus, he succeeded in shifting the established perception that color is a fixed property of matter. During the 60s, he debated his ideas with prominent artists such as Morellet, Agam, Lygia Clark, Tinguely, and Camargo. About his artwork Cruz-Diez said:

They serve as support for an event that evolves in real time and space, and change with the shifting of light and the distance of the observer. They are autonomous situations, devoid from anecdotes, in which the viewer witnesses color being raveled and unraveled, with no past or future, in an everlasting present.

Carlos Cruz-Diez - Serie Semana - Miércoles, 2013
Carlos Cruz-Diez - Serie Semana - Miércoles, 2013. Lithograph; 60 x 60 cm

Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Exhibitions

He participated in the renowned group show Perceptive eye at the MoMA in 1965, which was unfortunately not well received by the critics. In the ’70s, the artist began implementing his ideas and work in urban spaces. In 1970 he participated in Venice Biennale representing Venezuela and was the recipient of the Prize for Painting at the São Paulo Biennale. Besides installations, he created numerous architectural models, paintings, silk-screen prints, and videos. In his honor, Caracas opened Carlos Cruz-Diez Print and Design Museum in 1997. In 2014 the Cruz-Diez Foundation created by his family published his memoirs titled Living in Art: Memories of What I Remember.


Featured image: Portrait of Carlos Cruz-Diez. Photo by Rolando de La Fuente.

All images copyright of the artist



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