Carlos Cruz-Diez

Biographical Data

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1923. He lives and works in Paris and in Venezuela. After studying Fine Arts in the University of Caracas (1940-1945), Carlos Cruz-Diez starts working in advertising and as a newspaper illustrator. At the same time he decides to paint “a sort of great chronicle of the unknown and magical world which is Latin America”. His first individual exhibition takes place in 1947. Ten years later he travels to Europe and bases his work in “a non-traditional understanding of color”. He is one of the founding members of the Néo-Concret group and becomes one of the main figures of Kinetic art. He participates, in May 1967, in Lumière et Mouvement, the manifesto-exhibition of this movement in the Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris.

Brief Chronology

Since the late 60’s, Carlos Cruz-Diez studies the texts about color and physical and optical laws written by philosophers and great artists. He develops different supports to “evidence the mutant condition of chromatic reality”. He creates “chromatic event modules”, the series: Physichromies, Cabines de Chromosaturation, Chromostructures. For these surroundings and interventions, he uses the viewers’ collaboration, who must become aware that color is “physics, sometimes voluptuous, even erotic and that it affects the primary senses” (L’été marseillais, 1989).
He gets numerous public commissions and creates gigantic Chromostructures in the middle of the urban architecture, integrating the work of art to the city (Hommage au Soleil, 1981-1987, Venezuela; ceiling of Saint Quentin en Yvelines train station’s footbridge, France, 1981). Since the 90’s decades he also designs fountains (Fontaine d’induction chromatique, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1996) and gardens (Labyrinthe chromovégétal with 53000 color plants, University Simón Bolívar, Caracas, 1994).

Cruz-Diez

Jaune additif Denise “A”, 2007, Chromatography, 180 x 80 cm / 70,8 x 31,4 in.