Carlos Cruz-Diez is one of the main protagonists of contemporary art. His research and his writings make him the last great thinker of the 20th century in the realm of color. His work has revealed a new understanding of chromatic phenomena in art, expanding its perceptual universe considerably.
Cruz-Diez proposes color as an autonomous and evolutive reality where the implication of our senses reveals chromatic events as they develop. Events that take place in space and time, without anecdotes or references, stripped of any symbols, past or future, in a continuous present. Works by Carlos Cruz-Diez encourage a different knowledge relationship where the viewers can discover their capacity to create and destroy color with their own perceptual means while finding an emotional resonance through their personal experience.
Carlos Cruz-Diez describes himself as an artist applying the discipline of a scientist “because the supports that I have managed to structure are a source of surprise and imponderables… In my works, nothing is left to chance; everything is intended, planned, and programmed. Liberty and emotions are only present when choosing colors, a task with only one self-imposed restriction: to be efficient in what I want to say. It is a combination of both rationale and emotion. I don’t get inspired: I reflect.”
Carlos Cruz-Diez’s body of work, based on three conditions of color: subtractive, additive and reflective is developed through eight lines of research: Couleur Additive, Physichromie, Induction Chromatique,Chromointerférence, Transchromie, Chromosaturation, Chromoscope and Couleur à l’Espace. Each of them responding to different behaviors of color.
His works are in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne; Geffen Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk.
“The project of my life included painting and family at the same time” said Cruz-Diez in his memoirs Vivir en arte, recuerdos de lo que me acuerdo. As an artist, a husband, a father and a grandfather, Cruz-Diez fully accomplished his project. Guided by his example and affection, his family works with a team of professionals to manage his legacy and promote, conserve and promulgate Maestro’s work and ideas.
The Studios
Atelier Cruz-Diez Paris
Over sixty years after Carlos Cruz-Diez’s arrival in Paris, the Atelier Cruz-Diez continues to carry out the management, diffusion and conservation of the artist's work. In its Parisian premises, the Atelier Cruz-Diez has gathered a team of specialists in conservation, logistics, restoration of artworks, archives and records administration, communication and project management; experienced professionals who dedicate themselves to "the art of making Art". The Atelier integrates the Cruz-Diez Documentation center, which is dedicated to the conservation, study and promotion of the archive related to the artist.
Carlos Cruz-Diez took up permanent residence in Paris in the fall of 1960. Very soon he set up his studio, a place of life and work, but also a place of exchange and discussion. Among the artists of the time, the musical parties and the debates on art, philosophy, music, literature and even politics are still remembered. Following the tradition of the great masters of the 17th century, the artist's work team has always been made up of his family and numerous assistants, mostly young artists, art students and professionals from different specialties.
Articruz
Articruz is one of Carlos Cruz-Diez' studios, dedicated to the conservation and restoration of the artist's works, as well as to the management of the region's archive through its documentation center.
Articruz was created in 2009 in Panama City, expanding the production of Cruz-Diez’s Caracas workshop while maintaining the knowledge and experience acquired by the family in a lifetime dedicated to art. Along with the Atelier Cruz-Diez Paris, Articruz represents the artist with specialists of the art world in important events of the international cultural agenda, such as contemporary art fairs and exhibitions, as well as managing group and solo exhibitions of the artist.
Cruz-Diez Foundation
The Cruz-Diez Foundation is a non-profit organization with a collection of works bequeathed by the artist and the Cruz-Diez family. In its effort to promote the artist's ideas, it has participated in the publication of several major works about the artist's life and work.
