Galería RGR is proud to present Color and Line in Motion, the second solo exhibition of Carlos Cruz-Diez at the gallery. The exhibit is comprised of 12 works, belonging to different lines of research in which the master explored behavior of color as an autonomous phenomenon. Throughout Cruz-Diez’s career, the products of his vision have constantly evolved through his persistent research on how to create a dynamic art that stands independently from preceding referential tools.
The Fisicromías were the culmination of color experiments that began early in his career. The first Fisicromía was created in 1959 and continued for over six decades. Cruz-Diez's initial use of multicolored cardboard and later acrylic or PVC set on top of flat painted planes forming geometric configurations evolved over time, adapting to new technologies and materials. They represent the maturation of his color research. They also were instrumental in generating a specific lexicon to his creations and led to new optical formulations in subsequent series.
The Fisicromías function as "light traps" by containing vertical slats that come out from the base. These "fins" trap the ambient light and reflect a color on the surface, altering the existing one, which is constructed by patterns of colors to which Cruz-Diez called "módulos de acontecimiento cromático" (chromatic event modules).
In his series Color Aditivo, radiation of color is the main theme. When two plane colors come into contact, an illusion of a darker line separating them appears, isolating that touching space. Through his "módulos de acontecimiento cromático", Cruz-Diez achieves the emergence of new color ranges not present in the plane that can vary according to the lominous source and to the viewer's distance and displacement, transforming the static plane.
In 1964, while Cruz-Diez was working on a Color Aditivo, he superimposed on the work an acetate sheet with a similar line pattern. As he moved it across the surface, a new sequence of lines and movement appeared, resulting in the emergence of the Cromointerferencias, which shows that the changes in color and movement we perceive are not embodied in the support, but in our eyes and mind.
Understanding the conception that color is not limited by shape, in his series, Inducción Cromática, Cruz-Diez studied the phenomenon of complementary color, or after-image effect. This means that when one observes for a few seconds a plane with a color and then moves the gaze to an empty plane, one will observe the complementary color. It is a phenomenon that takes place in two phases, however, this works manage to bring it simultaneously.
Cruz-Diez's overall reductive process unlocked the possibility of infinite compositions, which he endlessly mined during his long and productive career. In the process, the viewer-object relationship, so important in Kinetic art, became inextricably linked to the understanding and enjoyment of his art. We do not stand still in front of a work by Cruz-Diez. To fully experience it, we must walk from one end to the other. The linear motion activates shifts in colors and shapes, making us indispensable participants in its creation.
Alma Ruiz