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Carlos Cruz-Diez Mixed Media

b. 1923

For Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923–2019), color was a dazzling, transient effect, which he attempted to capture on canvas and in light installations. The striking compositions he produced over his seven-decade career made him one of Latin America’s greatest postwar artists and a leading figure in the Op art movement.

“I don’t make paintings, nor sculptures. I make platforms for occurrences,” Cruz-Diez once said. “They are platforms where color is being produced, dissolved, generated in a perpetual instant. In it, there’s no notion of past nor future. In it is the notion of the present moment, just like life.”

Building on the chromatic explorations of Sir Isaac Newton, George Seurat and Josef Albers, he created striking paintings comprising lines of contrasting hues that appear to shimmer. He called these works physichromies.

Later in his career, Cruz-Diez shifted his explorations from paint to light. His “chromosaturations” are immersive environments consisting of three chambers, each flooded with a different-color light, which disoriented visitors and altered their perception. He also translated his chromatic illusions to public spaces, like the floor he created at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, near Caracas, and a pedestrian crossing outside the Broad Museum, in Los Angeles.

Cruz-Diez was a successful graphic designer as well, working for artist-clients like Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. Across all these mediums, his work had the same boldness and immersive quality, engaging the viewer’s eyes, body and mind.

Browse Carlos Cruz-Diez's prints, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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Artist: Carlos Cruz-Diez
physichromie № 1.021
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in Miami, FL
The Physichromie is a structure designed to reveal certain circumstances and conditions related to color, changing according to the movement of the viewer and the intensity of the li...
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1970s Op Art Carlos Cruz-Diez Mixed Media

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Metal

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Carlos Cruz-diez mixed media for sale on 1stDibs.

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Questions About Carlos Cruz-Diez Mixed Media
  • 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022
    Carlos Cruz-Diez is known for his work in the Kinetic and Op art movements. The Venezuelan artist created innovative compositions featuring vibrant colors that seemed to move before the eye. Some of his most famous works include Transchromie, Fisicromía and Inducción cromática. Shop a collection of Carlos Cruz-Diez art on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Carlos Cruz-Diez is an artist in the op-art movement. He was inspired by the colors of Europe on a trip to France when he was younger, and would later infuse his art with the kinetic energy of colors. You can shop a selection of Carlos Cruz-Diez’s work from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022
    Carlos Cruz-Diez used a wide range of materials to create his work. However, he is best known for crafting artwork out of aluminum. Following the oil crisis in 1975, he shifted to PVC sheeting. Shop a range of Carlos Cruz-Diez art on 1stDibs.

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