Caracas, Venezuela (1923)
Es una de las grandes figuras del arte contemporáneo, especialmente del arte óptico cinético. Su proposición plástica, una de las más originales de ese movimiento, nos revela al artista como uno de los últimos pensadores del color del siglo XX. Su investigación, fundamentada en tres condiciones cromáticas, sustractiva, aditiva y refleja, ha aportado al arte una forma nueva de conocimiento del fenómeno color, ampliando considerablemente su universo perceptivo.
El trabajo de Cruz-Diez gravita alrededor del color concebido como una realidad autónoma, desprovista de anécdotas, que evoluciona en el espacio y en el tiempo reales, sin pasado ni futuro, en presente perpetuo. En sus obras, el color se presenta como una realidad que puede existir sin ayuda de la forma y aun sin ayuda del soporte.
Sus obras figuran, entre otros, en las colecciones permanentes de:
Museum of Modern Art, Nueva York; Tate Modern, Londres; Centre Georges Pompidou, París; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Colonia; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de París.
Entre sus exposiciones individuales y colectivas se destacan:
“Bewogen Beweging”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1961); “Mouvement 2”, Galerie Denise René, París (1964); “The Responsive Eye”, Museum of Modern Art, Nueva york (1965); “Cruz-Diez: Cinq propositions sur la couleur”, Galerie Denise René, París (1969); “Carlos Cruz-Diez: Die Autonomie der Farbe”, Josef Albers Museum, Bottrop (1988); “Une Tour Eiffel haute en couleurs”, Centre Georges Pompidou, París (2003);
“Inverted Utopias: Avant-garde Art in Latin America”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2004); “Lo(s) Cinético(s)”, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2007); “In(formed) by Color”, The Americas Society, Nueva York (2008); “Carlos Cruz-Diez: El color sucede”, Museu d’Art Espanyol Contemporani, Palma de Mallorca (2009); “Cruz-Diez: El color, una circunstancia espacial y temporal”, Marión Gallery, Panamá (2010); “Environment Chromatic-Interferences: Interactive Space by Carlos Cruz-Diez”, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2010); “Carlos Cruz-Diez: Color in Space and Time”, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2011); “Carlos Cruz-Diez: A cor no espaço e no tempo”, Pinacoteca do estado, São Paulo (2012); “La Invención Concreta: Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros”, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2013); “Dynamo. Un siècle de lumière et de mouvement dans l’art. 1913-2013”, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, París (2013).
Biography:
His works can be found in permanent collections such as:
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate Modern, London
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de París
The following are some of his solo and group exhibitions:
"The Responsive Eye", Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States (1965)
"Carlos Cruz-Diez. Die Autonomie der Farbe [The Anatomy of Color]", Josef Albers Museum, Bottrop, Germany (1988)
"Une Tour Eiffel haute en couleurs [A Colorful Eiffel Tower]", Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (2003)
"Inverted Utopias. Avant-Garde Art in Latin America", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, United States (2004)
"Lo(s) Cinético(s) [The Kinetic(s)]", Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (2007)
"(In)Formed by Color. Carlos Cruz-Diez", The Americas Society, New York, United States (2008)
"El Color Sucede [Color Happens]", Museu d’Art Espanyol Contemporani, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2009); Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, Cuenca, Spain (2009)
"Carlos Cruz Diez. The Embodied Experience of Color", Miami Art Museum, United States (2010)
"Suprasensorial Experiments in Light, Color, and Space", The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, United States (2010)
"Carlos Cruz-Diez. Color in Space and Time", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Unitd States (2011)
Biographical Elements
1923 | Born in Caracas, on August 17th, Venezuela. |
1940 | Studies at the School of Fine Arts in Caracas, where he obtaines the diploma of professor in Applied Arts, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1944 | Designs the publications of the Creole Petroleum Corporation and illustrates other newspapers and publications, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1944 | Makes comics for various newspapers, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1946 | Works as creative director of advertising agency McCann-Erickson Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1947 | Travels to New York for an advertising training, United States. |
1947 | Held his first personal exhibition 12 Gouaches de Carlos Cruz-Diez, Instituto Venezolano-Americano, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1953 | Works as an illustrator for El Nacional newspaper and other publications, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1955 | Settled in El Masnou, Barcelona, Spain. |
1955 | Travels to Paris and visits the exhibition Le Mouvement at the Galerie Denise René, France. |
1956 | Exhibits his work at the Galerie Buchholz, in Madrid, where he presents the Parénquimas and the Objetos Rítmicos Móviles, Spain. |
1957 | Illustrator of literary publications of the Ministry of Education, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1957 | Founded the Estudio de Artes Visuales [Visual Arts Studio] for graphic and industrial design, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1958 | Adjunct director and painting professor at the School of Fine Arts, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1958 | Professor of typography and graphic design at the Escuela de Periodismo [Journalism School], Universidad Central, Venezuela. |
1959 | Creates his first Couleur Additive and Physichromie, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1960 | Settled permanently in Paris with his family, France. |
1961 | Participates at the exhibition Le Mouvement at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. |
1963 | Creates and develops the first series of Induction Chromatique, Chromointerférence et Transchromie Aléatoire, Paris, France. |
1963 | Participates at the exhibition Nove Tendencije 2, Zagreb, Croatia. |
1964 | Participates at the exhibition Le Mouvement 2 at the Galerie Denise René, Paris, France. |
1965 | Advisor of the Centre Culturel Noroît, Arras, France. |
1965 | Inaugurates at the Galerie Kerchache his first personal exhibition in Paris: Physichromies de Cruz-Diez. Œuvres de 1954 à 1965, France. |
1965 | Participates at the exhibition The Responsive Eye, Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States. |
1967 | Graphic visualizer and co-founder of the art magazine Robho, Paris, France. |
1967 | Participates at the exhibition Lumière et Mouvement held at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France. |
1969 | Installed Labyrinthe de Chromosaturation on the Boulevard Saint- Germain, Paris, France. |
1970 | Personal exhibition at the XXXV Biennale di Venezia, Venezuelan Pavilion, Venice, Italy. |
1972 | Taught “kinetic techniques” at the Unité d’Études et Recherches d’Arts Plastiques at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France. |
1973 | Opens a new workshop, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1973 | Jury member for the diploma of the École Supérieure des Beaux- Arts, Paris, France. |
1973 | Works on numerous large projects related to integrated architectural works, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1975 | Creates the Environnement Chromatique for the headquarters of the Union des Banques Suisses in Zürich, Switzerland. |
1980 | Opening of the travelling exhibition Didáctica y Dialéctica del Color at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1986 | Head of the Art Unit of the Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Caracas, Venezuela. |
1989 | Published his book Reflexión sobre el Color, Caracas, Venezuela. |
1997 | Opening of the Museo de la Estampa y el Diseño Carlos Cruz-Diez [Carlos Cruz-Diez Museum of Print and Design], Caracas, Venezuela. |
2007 | Honorary Member of the Venezuelan Academy of Language, Venezuela. |
2009 | Opens an Atelier Cruz-Diez in Panama City, Republic of Panama. |
2009 | Publishes the second edition in Spanish and English of his book Reflexión sobre el Color, Madrid, Spain. |
2010 | Celebrates fifty years of life in France, Paris, France. |
2011 | Inaugurates his most important retrospective exhibition Carlos Cruz-Diez. Color in Space and Time, at The Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH), Houston, United States. |
2012 | Receives the rank of Officer of the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, Paris, France. |
For more information about this artist please visit his website:
www.cruz-diez.com/