Carlos Cruz-Díez
Encyclopedia
Carlos Cruz-Diez is a Venezuela
n kinetic
and op art
ist. He lives in Paris
. He has spent his professional career working and teaching between both Paris and Caracas. His work is represented in museums and public art sites internationally. He is represented by two American galleries: Sicardi Gallery in Houston, Texas
, and Moka Gallery in Chicago, Illinois.
In 1957, he returned to Venezuela and worked at his studio, Estudio de Artes Visuales, and started investigating the role of color in kinetic art. He also worked as a graphic designer for the Education Ministry publications, Caracas. During 1958-1960, he served as the Assistant Director and Professor at the Caracas School of Fine Arts. During 1959-60, he also taught Typographie and Graphic Design at the School of Journalism, Central University of Venezuela
, Caracas. In 1965, Cruz-Diez the Centre culturel Noroit, Arras, France, as a graphic design
er. During 1972-73, he taught Kinetic Techniques at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
, Paris and Universite d'Enseignement et de Recherches. From 1973 to 1980, he served as a member of the jury for diploma of École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. From 1986 to 1993, he was the Titular Professor and Director of the Art Unit of the Institute of Advanced Studies (IDEA), Caracas.
During Cruz-Diez's time in school, he studied the work of Georges Seurat and Josef Albers
, both artists who experimented with color relationships, aesthetics
and perception. While in Europe, he was not only influenced by the Art Movements, he also was influenced by the European surrounding, particularly the plant life, which differed so much from the plant life in his native Venezuela. (concepts of art) He could have, quite possibly been drawn to the variance in color and form. Cruz-Diez is often associated with two Venezuelan Kinetic Artists, Jesus Soto and Alejandro Otero
. All three artists share aesthetic similarities in structure and form, and are considered to have secured Venezuela’s position in the international art world. Although Cruz-Diez arrived in Paris ten years after Soto, their national and artistic connections are apparent.
. His successor, Eleazar Lopez Contreras changed the artistic climate by supporting study of artists such as Cezanne and other European Modernist painters. After World War II
several Venezuelan artists were able to study abroad, often in Paris. At the same the culture began to change because of industrialization and urbanization, which was directly tied to Venezuela’s exportation of oil. The new challenges faced by the development of modernity presented a receptive audience for Cruz-Diez, which allowed for a break in the traditional artists of Venezuela. (Traditionally painters before 1950) The new cultural climate, which was receptive to the Kinetic Artist, was directly linked to the new technological advancements represented by the Kinetic artists. During 1948-1958 Venezuela existed under a military rule – and the Venezuelan Kinetic artists were often associated with elite social group because they were embraced by the government and supported and commissioned by industry and corporations. Cruz-Diez’s Op Art became popular with the political elite, often because the art lacked any political message.
Cruz-Diez has consistently worked through his career focusing solely on color, line and (viewer) perception. His visual style can be consistently identified throughout his work spanning his entire career. His work contains an element in which the viewer actively participates in viewing the work because the color changes and presents a sensation of movement as the relative position of the viewer changes. Cruz-Diez uses the moiré effect to produce this sensation of motion by his particular composition of lines. Because the image of his work changes as the viewer changes locations, he refers to this changing effect of the image as “vibrations.” In 1959 Cruz-Diez started working in radiation of color, essentially colored light - which is a form of wavelengths, and abandoned paint as a medium. Cruz-Diez often referred to environment and events and part the experience of viewing his art. Because he was working with light and perception, his environment most likely needed to be controlled. Since the perception of the piece changes with the viewer movement, the individual images presented were considered events. Interesting enough these were terms used by the Fluxus
group, who were also internationally based, and working around the same time, the late fifties and early sixties.
Throughout his career Cruz-Diez has focused on four types of self-defined op art
Categories: Physichoromies, Choromointerferences, Chromosaturations, and Transchromies. All of his color-based experiments focus on variations of the observer’s position in relation to the work, the light directed at the work, and the relationship between the colors presented. Of the above mentions, seemingly, the most popular and possibly most archival is the Physichromie, which are all entitled “Physchromie” with a number listed after to indicate its uniqueness. (see list and images) He also created sensory deconditioning rooms, which provided an experience that included visual, sound and tactile experience, a total phrenological experience.
. Cruz-Diez breaks down color and form to their elemental qualities, and engages the viewer on an emotional level without the use of naturalistic imagery. Bell defined aesthetic emotion as a unique response to the viewer’s experience while engaging with a work of art. Cruz-Diez proactively engages the viewer in this experience by the constantly changing line and color.
Recently, a contemporary London-based Venezuelan artist, Jaime Gili
, exhibited “Homenaje a Cruz-Diez, 2006” in Riflemaker Gallery, Soho
, NY using colored tiles and metal sheets. The pieces of tiles came directly from Cruz-Diez now defunct public structure, “Fisicromia Homenaje a Don Andres Bello, 1982. This homage to the Venezuelan icon represents the impact Cruz-Diez has left on the new generation of emerging artists with cultural ties to Venezuela. In contrast to the isolated incident of the demolition his public work, he has been commemorated by the museum, designed a piece for the Caracas international airport. He specializes in kinetic art, as well as trying to promote Venezuelan art into the international art scene.
In 1997, Cruz-Diez was appointed for life the president and member of the superior council of the "Museo de la Estampa y del Diseño Carlos Cruz-Diez" Foundation, Caracas. In 1998, he was appointed as an honorary member of Academia de Ciencias, Arte y Letras, Mérida, Venezuela.
Carlos Cruz-Diez has had individual exhibitions in several museums and galleries, including Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas (1955), Museum am Ostwall
in Dortmund
(1966), XXXV Venice Biennale
in Italy (1970), and Museo de Arte Moderno
in Mexico
(1976). He was a special guest at the 1986 Venice Biennale.
His works have recently sold in US auction at $55,000 He is represented in museums internationally, and is a pioneer in artistic color theory and perception. Despite his lack of political content in his work, he still remains an international Venezuelan icon, because of the progress contributed to the fine and graphic art worlds in Caracas and abroad. It has been noted that Kinetic Art is to Venezuela what Muralism is to Mexico.
Because of his attention to light and color aesthetics he belongs to a lineage that includes all colorists, such as Seurat, Cezanne, Albers
, and Frank Stella
.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n kinetic
Kinetic art
Kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.-Kinetic sculpture:...
and op art
Op art
Op art, also known as optical art, is a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions."Optical art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing." Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made...
ist. He lives in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He has spent his professional career working and teaching between both Paris and Caracas. His work is represented in museums and public art sites internationally. He is represented by two American galleries: Sicardi Gallery in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, and Moka Gallery in Chicago, Illinois.
In 1957, he returned to Venezuela and worked at his studio, Estudio de Artes Visuales, and started investigating the role of color in kinetic art. He also worked as a graphic designer for the Education Ministry publications, Caracas. During 1958-1960, he served as the Assistant Director and Professor at the Caracas School of Fine Arts. During 1959-60, he also taught Typographie and Graphic Design at the School of Journalism, Central University of Venezuela
Central University of Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela is a premier public University of Venezuela located in Caracas...
, Caracas. In 1965, Cruz-Diez the Centre culturel Noroit, Arras, France, as a graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
er. During 1972-73, he taught Kinetic Techniques at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
, Paris and Universite d'Enseignement et de Recherches. From 1973 to 1980, he served as a member of the jury for diploma of École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. From 1986 to 1993, he was the Titular Professor and Director of the Art Unit of the Institute of Advanced Studies (IDEA), Caracas.
Influences
Josef Albers
Josef Albers was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20th century....
, both artists who experimented with color relationships, aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
and perception. While in Europe, he was not only influenced by the Art Movements, he also was influenced by the European surrounding, particularly the plant life, which differed so much from the plant life in his native Venezuela. (concepts of art) He could have, quite possibly been drawn to the variance in color and form. Cruz-Diez is often associated with two Venezuelan Kinetic Artists, Jesus Soto and Alejandro Otero
Alejandro Otero
Alejandro Otero was a Venezuelan artist, writer and cultural promoter.He studied at the "Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Artes Aplicadas de Caracas" from 1939 to 1945...
. All three artists share aesthetic similarities in structure and form, and are considered to have secured Venezuela’s position in the international art world. Although Cruz-Diez arrived in Paris ten years after Soto, their national and artistic connections are apparent.
Social and political context
Although Cruz-Diez's career was spent between Caracas and Paris, the political unrest and development in Venezuela directly affected his career. Venezuela existed under dictatorship for decades, with Juan Vincente Gomez from 1908 until his death in 1935. His rule influenced the academic art institutions, with little room for growth of the Venezuelan avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
. His successor, Eleazar Lopez Contreras changed the artistic climate by supporting study of artists such as Cezanne and other European Modernist painters. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
several Venezuelan artists were able to study abroad, often in Paris. At the same the culture began to change because of industrialization and urbanization, which was directly tied to Venezuela’s exportation of oil. The new challenges faced by the development of modernity presented a receptive audience for Cruz-Diez, which allowed for a break in the traditional artists of Venezuela. (Traditionally painters before 1950) The new cultural climate, which was receptive to the Kinetic Artist, was directly linked to the new technological advancements represented by the Kinetic artists. During 1948-1958 Venezuela existed under a military rule – and the Venezuelan Kinetic artists were often associated with elite social group because they were embraced by the government and supported and commissioned by industry and corporations. Cruz-Diez’s Op Art became popular with the political elite, often because the art lacked any political message.
Description of style
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
group, who were also internationally based, and working around the same time, the late fifties and early sixties.
Throughout his career Cruz-Diez has focused on four types of self-defined op art
Categories: Physichoromies, Choromointerferences, Chromosaturations, and Transchromies. All of his color-based experiments focus on variations of the observer’s position in relation to the work, the light directed at the work, and the relationship between the colors presented. Of the above mentions, seemingly, the most popular and possibly most archival is the Physichromie, which are all entitled “Physchromie” with a number listed after to indicate its uniqueness. (see list and images) He also created sensory deconditioning rooms, which provided an experience that included visual, sound and tactile experience, a total phrenological experience.
Interpretation
Cruz-Diez is often associated with the Kinetic Art Movement, which relies on movement, particularly that of the object. As an Op or Operational Artist, Cruz-Diez relies on the movement of the viewer rather than the movement of the art object itself. The Op Movement stems directly from the Kinetic Movement, and is often considered a part of the Kinetic Movement as well. Cruz-Diez has been consistent throughout his career in pursuing his interest in colour, and presenting his formal sensibility. His work presents geometric abstracted forms with a strong emphasis on colour, to create a visual experience. Because of Cruz-Diez’s attention to colour, line and space (environment), his work has significant form, as defined by Clive BellClive Bell
Arthur Clive Heward Bell was an English Art critic, associated with formalism and the Bloomsbury Group.- Origins :Clive Bell was born in East Shefford, Berkshire, in 1881...
. Cruz-Diez breaks down color and form to their elemental qualities, and engages the viewer on an emotional level without the use of naturalistic imagery. Bell defined aesthetic emotion as a unique response to the viewer’s experience while engaging with a work of art. Cruz-Diez proactively engages the viewer in this experience by the constantly changing line and color.
Legacy
On December 17, 1997, the Carlos Cruz-Diez Print and Design Museum in Caracas, Venezuela, opened to the public. The museum offers education and resources to the general public to expand artistic audiences, while supporting contemporary Venezuelan artists. The museum will strive to create a, “graphic image of the country,” Carlos-Cruz Diez serves as founder and president. One of Cruz-Diez’s sculptures, constructed in Caracas, Venezuela, was recently demolished to make way for a scenic view of a port. It was noted that the structure was covered in graffiti, not maintained by public works and became more of an eyesore than a work of art. After Cruz-Diez offered to send his own studio apprentices to help with the restoration of the work, to Cruz-Diez’s and several art advocacy groups’ disapproval, the Caracas government continued with the demolition.Recently, a contemporary London-based Venezuelan artist, Jaime Gili
Jaime Gili
Jaime Gili is an artist based in London since 1996.Since 2002 his work has been contextualised as continuing a tradition of Latinamerican abstract art, especially the Venezuelan optical and kinetic work of artists such as Carlos Cruz-Diez and Alejandro Otero, with an input from popular art and...
, exhibited “Homenaje a Cruz-Diez, 2006” in Riflemaker Gallery, Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
, NY using colored tiles and metal sheets. The pieces of tiles came directly from Cruz-Diez now defunct public structure, “Fisicromia Homenaje a Don Andres Bello, 1982. This homage to the Venezuelan icon represents the impact Cruz-Diez has left on the new generation of emerging artists with cultural ties to Venezuela. In contrast to the isolated incident of the demolition his public work, he has been commemorated by the museum, designed a piece for the Caracas international airport. He specializes in kinetic art, as well as trying to promote Venezuelan art into the international art scene.
In 1997, Cruz-Diez was appointed for life the president and member of the superior council of the "Museo de la Estampa y del Diseño Carlos Cruz-Diez" Foundation, Caracas. In 1998, he was appointed as an honorary member of Academia de Ciencias, Arte y Letras, Mérida, Venezuela.
Carlos Cruz-Diez has had individual exhibitions in several museums and galleries, including Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas (1955), Museum am Ostwall
Museum am Ostwall
The Museum Ostwall is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Dortmund, Germany. It was founded in the late 1940s, and has been located in the Dortmund U-Tower since 2010...
in Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
(1966), XXXV Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in Italy (1970), and Museo de Arte Moderno
Museo de Arte Moderno
The Museo de Arte Moderno or Museum of Modern Art is located in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City, Mexico. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and prepares exhibitions of national and international contemporary artists...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(1976). He was a special guest at the 1986 Venice Biennale.
His works have recently sold in US auction at $55,000 He is represented in museums internationally, and is a pioneer in artistic color theory and perception. Despite his lack of political content in his work, he still remains an international Venezuelan icon, because of the progress contributed to the fine and graphic art worlds in Caracas and abroad. It has been noted that Kinetic Art is to Venezuela what Muralism is to Mexico.
Because of his attention to light and color aesthetics he belongs to a lineage that includes all colorists, such as Seurat, Cezanne, Albers
Albers
- People :Scientists and mathematicians*Johann Abraham Albers , German physician*Johann Christian Albers , German zoologist, malacologist*Johann Friedrich Hermann Albers , German physician and pathologist...
, and Frank Stella
Frank Stella
Frank Stella is an American painter and printmaker, significant within the art movements of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction.-Biography:...
.
Partial list of works
- Physichromie No. 113 - 1963, Tate GalleryTate-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
, London UK - Physichromie No. 123 - 1964, Tate Gallery, London UK
- Physichromie No. 147 - 1965, Fundación D.O.P.DOP FoundationThe D.O.P. Foundation is a non-profit institution with spaces and documentary archives headquartered in Paris , Madrid , Miami and Caracas that operates as an educational and lending resource of modern and contemporary art and is dedicated to build a collection that reflects the scope and...
| Colección D.O.P., Paris, France - Physichromie No. 394 - 1968, Blanton Museum of ArtBlanton Museum of ArtThe Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art is the art museum and research center of the University of Texas at Austin. Formerly under the College of Fine Arts, the museum director now reports to the University's...
, Austin, Texas - Physichromie No. 506 - 1970, Centre PompidouCentre Georges PompidouCentre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
, Paris France - Physichromie No. 571 - 1971, Boca Raton Museum of ArtBoca Raton Museum of ArtThe Boca Raton Museum of Art is located at 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, Florida in Mizner Park. It houses works of art by a number of the great masters.-About:...
, Boca Raton, Florida - Physichromie No. 1270 - 1990, University of EssexUniversity of EssexThe University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
Collection of Latin American Art, Colchester UK - Physichromie No. 1288 - 1993, Fitzwilliam MuseumFitzwilliam MuseumThe Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
, Cambridge UK - Untitled - 1996, University of Essex Collection of Latin American Art, Colchester UK
- Physichromie No. 2346 - 1996, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, Texas
- Physichromie No. 2385 - 1998, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, Texas
- Cliché Coul - 2004, Centre Pompidou, Paris France
- Double Physichromie - 2009, University of HoustonUniversity of HoustonThe University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
Public Art Collection, Houston, Texas
Gallery exhibitions
- "Geometric Abstraction: Latin American Art from the Patricica Phelps de Cisneros Cellection", Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University August–November 2001, Cambridge, MA.
- "Cordoba Has III Bienal Interamericana de Arte", October 1966, Cordoba, Argentina.
- "Venezuelan Art Show presented by the Consulate General of Venezuela", Galeria Venezuela, October 1980, New York, NY.
- "Physichromies de Cruz-Diez: Oeuvres do 1954 a 1965", Galerie Kerchache, 1965, Paris, France.
- "Physichromies, Couleur Additive, Induction Chromatique, Chromointerferences", Galerie Denise René, 1971, New York, NY.
- "2002 Geométriques et cinétiques", Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brésil Cruz-Diez, Galerie d'art de Créteil, France. Cruz-Diez, Galerie Lavigne Bastille, Paris.
- "Couleur événement, Galerie Lavignes Bastille", Paris 2004
- From November 2009 to march 2010: "CRUZ-DIEZ, 50 ans de recherche", Galerie Lavigne Bastille, Paris.