CARLOS CRUZ-DIEZ, THE DESIGNER
From March 12th to June 11th, the Reina Sofía Museum will present the exhibition El peso de la forma (The Weight of Form) at the Library and Documentation Centre (Nouvel Building, Space D). Curated by Ariel Jiménez, the exhibition will present a series of works, mainly related to design, produced by the Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (Caracas, 1923 - Paris, 2019) between 1930 and 2015. To this end, the museum brings together more than 100 notebooks, catalogues, artworks, comic strips and videos that allow for an in-depth approach to one of the least publicised aspects of Cruz-Diez's work, artist whose popularity and recognition are linked mainly to his production within the currents of optic and kinetic art.
El peso de la forma. El diseño gráfico de Carlos Cruz-Diez is the result of a collaboration between the Archivo Fotografía Urbana (Caracas, Venezuela) and the Cruz-Diez Art Foundation (Paris, France).
Considered one of the most influential visual artists of the 20th century, Carlos Cruz-Diez has been a key figure in chromatic research. Of that facet of the artist, his fisicromías have been highlighted: large-format structures in which the variables of movement (of the spectator) and light-environment produce variations in the chromatic aspects of the artwork. It was due to these investigations and his influence within Op-Art that established him as a key artist on the international scene. Currently his artwork is in the collections worldwide, such as the Tate Modern in London, the MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
However, the exhibition that the Reina Sofía Museum is bringing to Madrid's cultural offerings is a novelty. Planned as a retrospective, the pieces on display at the museum correspond to Carlos Cruz-Diez's research into editorial, graphic and industrial design. On this occasion, the concerns and reflections of the Venezuelan artist revolve around three axes related to paper as a material: colour, form and content. As a designer, all his work was dedicated to developing simple and balanced solutions in which these three variables coexisted effectively in objects.
According to the Museo Reina Sofía, Carlos Cruz-Diez's presence in Venezuelan design did not go unnoticed; on the contrary, it had a significant impact on the country's national industry insofar as it transformed the craft by bringing it closer to the plastic arts. In 1946, due to an excessive demand for his work, he opened his own design agency. Later, in Paris, he would continue to make specific collaborations as a designer.
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Carlos Cruz-Diez en el estudio de diagramación de la revista Momento. Caracas, Venezuela, 1957. Foto © Atelier Cruz-Diez © Carlos Cruz-Diez / Bridgeman Images 2021
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Alfredo Silva-Estrada, Trans-verbales 1, 1969. Diseño de Carlos Cruz-Diez. © Foto Rafael Guillén (Articruz, Panamá). © Fundación Sonia Sanoja – Alfredo Silva Estrada. © Carlos Cruz-Diez, Bridgeman Images 2021.
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Carlos Cruz Diez, Caracas, 2001. Foto © Ramón Grandal © Archivo Fotografía Urbana
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Aquiles Nazoa, Aviso Luminoso, 1960. Diseño de Carlos Cruz-Diez. Ediciones del Ministerio de Educación. Dirección de Cultura y Bellas Artes. © Archivo Fotografía Urbana
In order to unravel the visual conception of the Venezuelan artist within design, and with the commitment to disseminate his rigorous work within the field, the museum has programmed a conversation with the curator within the framework of the exhibition. On March 11th at 18:00 (Spain), through the Zoom platform, Ariel Jiménez will moderate the meeting Estética y eficacia: el diseño gráfico de Carlos Cruz-Diez (Aesthetics and Efficiency: The Graphic Design of Carlos Cruz-Diez).
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Exhibition: El peso de la forma. El diseño gráfico de Carlos Cruz-Diez
Curator: Ariel Jiménez
When: 12/ 03/ 2021 – 11/ 06/ 2021
Where: Reina Sofía Museum
