French-Venezuelan artist (Caracas, 1923 – Paris, 2019) who lives and works in Paris as of 1960. His plastic proposal, one of the most originals in the kinetic movement, unveils the artist as one of the most important color theorists of the 20th century and one of the most prominent figures of contemporary art.
In his work, color is presented as an autonomous reality, timeless and devoid of anecdotes, able to exist without the aid of forms and even without need of a medium. Master Carlos Cruz-Diez thus turns color into a mutating event in both time and space, forging realities in each moment. The viewers find themselves able to create color by means of their own perceptual abilities.
Awards
1967
Grand Prize, III American Art Biennial,,
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas,
Córdoba, Argentina.
1986
Officier grade,
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,
París, Francia.
2006
Honorary Doctor,
Universidad Simón Bolívar,
Caracas, Venezuela.
2014
Honorary Doctor,
Universidad Central,
Caracas, Venezuela.
Ver más
1967
Internacional Painting Award,
IX São Paulo Biennial,
São Paulo, Brasil.
1992
Gold Medal,
Norwegian International Print Triennale,
Oslo, Norway.
2007
Honorary Doctor in Arts,
Universidad de Los Andes,
Mérida, Venezuela.
2015
Turner Medal,
City University,
London, United Kingdom.
1971
National Prize of Plastic Arts,
Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes (INCIBA),
Caracas, Venezuela.
1994
Comandante grade,
Orden Heráldica Cristóbal Colón,
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
2011
Gold Medal,
Americas Society,
New York, United States.
2016
The International Trebbia Award,
Trebbia Foundation,
Prague, Czech Republic.
1981
Orden Andrés Bello,
First Class,
Caracas, Venezuela.
2002
Commandeur grade,
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres,
París, Francia.
2012
Penagos Prize on Drawing,
Mapfre Foundation, Madrid, Spain.
Officer Grade
National Order of the Legion of Honour, Paris, France.
2017
SCAD deFINE ART honoree,
Trustees Theater, SCAD University,
Savannah, United States.
Integration
AMBIENTACIÓN CROMÁTICA MONTALBÁN 11
The artworks merge harmoniously with the architecture, transforming the structure into a monumental, livable work of art. This seigneurial building (1916), whose façade, central courtyard, and entrance have been preserved due to their historical value, exhibits indoors an artistic intervention divided in three layers and specially conceived by the artist for the layout of the property’s common and private spaces, while honoring the peculiarities of the enclave in which it will be installed. Montalbán 11 served as headquarters for the Azucarera Nacional company, an emblematic corporation of the Spanish industry at the turn of the 20th century, today repurposed for residential use.
“My artworks for the urban setting and habitat are conceived as a plastic discourse that plays out in time and space, creating chromatic situations and events that change the dialectics between the viewer and the piece. 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, Paris 1996.
Work around the world
From 1967 to the present day, he has created over 130 integration artworks for public and architectural spaces in countries such as:
Venezuela, United States, France, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Andorra, Croatia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Australia.
His work is exhibited in over 65 museums and in the world’s most important private collections, including:
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Contemporary Art, Caracas
National Art Gallery, Caracas
Tate Modern, Londres
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris
Centre Pompidou, Paris
