20th-21st century. Venezuelan

Born in Caracas in 1923, Cruz-Diez showed a great interest in art from a very early age. At seventeen he enrolled at the School of Visual and Applied Arts in his home city. In 1942 he began studying to become a teacher of Manual and Applied Arts, which he combined with work as an illustrator and graphic designer. In 1945 he was appointed as a teacher of Painting and Art History at the School of Visual Arts of Caracas. Throughout those early years of training his practice was largely ascribed to Social Realism, with politically-oriented works portraying everyday scenes from his country of birth.

In 1951 he began to explore the physical and spatial features of colour and its potential. From that moment onwards, and until his final days, he continued to study colour as an experience and an event totally detached from its material support.

In 1960 he moved to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life. There he entered into contact with contemporary art movements which were advocating a total renewal of the art of the time. These premises defended that art should adopt a broader scope and integrate both time and space into the art object. In 1965 the artist created Chromosaturation, an enveloping installation that would be the highest expression of colour liberated from the support.

From Paris he travelled often to his country of birth. Those journeys allowed him to touch base with Venezuela and to play an active part in the evolution of its art scene.

Cruz-Diez exhibited his work in countless solo and group exhibitions throughout his career, and was universally considered one of the masters of Kinetic Art along with Alejandro Otero (1921-1990) and Jesús Rafael Soto (1923-2005). He also created installations in public spaces, activating a more participative dimension of his practice.

Cruz-Diez received several prizes distinguishing the relevance and quality of his oeuvre, including Venezuela’s National Visual Arts Award, which he received in 1971.

His works may be found in the collections of major art museums such as Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas; and Museo Tamayo, Mexico City.