J. Margulis

Porthole 36-5

2025

As most Venezuelan artists from his generation, Margulis came of age with the rise of Geometric abstractionism and Kinetic art, influenced early on by his encounters with the works of Venezuelan kinetic artist Jesús Soto and Naum Gabo, the Russian constructivist sculptor, specifically through his expsoure to Gabo’s Linear Constructions in Space series, which challenge the construction of volume and space, creating figures with fine threads on a structure. For Margulis, abstraction is the language in which he expects magic to happen, an argot that he masters with ease, where space and its possible construction with the minimum use of materials become one of the playful strategies of his artistic expression. His colorfully sculpted elements emerge as models for his photographic creations, and conversely, each medium coexisting individually, yet dialoguing with the other, creating a variety of discourses based on different perceptions, in an infinite loop in which one agent of expression nurtures and enriches the other. Margulis’ effort has evolved to become a combination of sculpture and photography, creating visual compositions within two different languages and discourses that complement one another. He has participated in several exhibitions and relevant International Art fairs and his art belongs in private collections in Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Italy, Spain, Australia, China, Dubai and the United States. J. Margulis was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He currently resides and works in Miami, Florida.