The Transchromie (1965) focuses on how color is affected by subtraction. When superimposing a structure consisting of colored transparent strips placed at varying distances and in a specific order, subtractive combinations are achieved that change according to the displacement of the viewer, the intensity of the light, and the surrounding colors.
Because of their transparency, the strips of color allow us to observe the surrounding environment, as it is modified by the phenomenon of subtraction. The reading of the colored transparent support, with its reflected or translucent images, stimulates visual access to ambiguous spaces.
The spectator is the one who, through his wandering, chooses among the angles of view the combination of subtractions he desires. The work exists less in itself than as a dialogue with the surrounding reality, captured by transparency.
Jean Clay – Carlos Cruz-Diez et les trois étapes de la couleur moderne, Jean Clay, 1969
Work selection
Environnement de Transchromie Circulaire
Paris, 2017
FIAC Paris, Hors les Murs, Place de la Concorde, Paris, France, 2017
2,1 x 5 m
Transchromie mécanique aléatoire
Paris, 1965/2010
218 x 60 cm
Labyrinthe de Transchromies
Paris, 1969
Exhibition “Cruz-Diez. Cinq propositions sur la couleur”, Galerie Denise René, Paris, France, 1969
220 x 40 x 20 cm
Labyrinthe de Transchromie Bruxelles
Paris, 1965/2019
“La Biennale Paris”, Grand Palais, Paris, France, 2019
2,45 x 14,64 m
Collection of the Centre Pompidou
Laberinto de Transcromías
Caracas, 1981
Exhibition “Cruz-Diez. Didáctica y dialéctica del color. Intervenciones en la arquitectura. Inducciones cromáticas”
Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art, Venezuela, 1981
Transchromie mécanique
Paris, 1975
Exhibition "Grands et jeunes d’aujourd’hui", Grand Palais, Paris, France, 1975
2 x 4,3 m