2019
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.
$130,000
H 28 in W 79 in
Carlos Cruz Diez, Induction chromatique a double frequence Madris B, 2008
By Carlos Cruz Diez
Located in Miami, FL
Carlos Cruz Diez Induction chromatique a double frequence Madris B 2008 Pigment chromatography on canvas Ed 2 of 8 28 x 79 in Signed on verso
Canvas, Screen
Couleur additive Serie 7
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in PARIS, FR
The Franco-Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez (Caracas, 1923) has lived and worked in Paris since 1960. He is a major protagonist in the field of Kinetic and Optical art, a movement ...
Ceramic
Physichromie № 752
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in Miami, FL
This piece is a chromatography over aluminum and PVC. It comes with an official certificate by the Cruz-Diez Foundation. The Physichromie (1959) is a structure designed to reveal ce...
Photographic Paper
Physichromie № 2476
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in Miami, FL
The Physichromie (1959) 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...
Metal
Price Upon Request
H 39 in W 118 in
Physichromie 1530 (Diptych) - Signed Op Art on PVC Painting, 2008
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in Palm Desert, CA
'Physichromie 1530’ is a chromography and pigments on PVC work by Venezuelan artist, Carlos Cruz-Diez. The artwork is signed verso, "Cruz-Diez” Carlos Cruz-Diez's 'Physichromie 1530...
PVC, Pigment
Price Upon Request
H 11.75 in W 23.5 in
Physichromie 1800 - Limited Edition OP Art Chromography & Pigments on PVC, 2012
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in Palm Desert, CA
'Physichromie 1800’ is a limited edition chromography and pigments on PVC by Venezuelan artist, Carlos Cruz-Diez. The artwork is signed and editioned verso, "Cruz-Diez 2/8” Carlos C...
PVC, Pigment
Price Upon Request
H 39.75 in W 78.75 in
Physichromie Panam 106 - Original Aluminum Op Art Painting, Signed, 2013
By Carlos Cruz-Diez
Located in Palm Desert, CA
'Physichromie Panam 106’ is a chromography and pigments on aluminum Op Art work by Venezuelan art, Carlos Cruz-Diez. The artwork is signed verso, "Cruz-Diez" 'Physichromie Panam 10...
Metal
Physichromie Panam 87 2012
By Carlos Cruz Diez
Located in Miami, FL
Carlos Cruz Diez Physichromie Panam 87, 2012 Chronographic on Aluminum and Plastic EDA 2 of 2 19 x 19 in Provenance: Private Collection, Miami.
Metal
Physichromie No. 1354”
By Carlos Cruz Diez
Located in Miami, FL
Carlos Cruz Diez (1923-2019) “Physichromie No. 1354” 2002 Plastic inserts and digital print on cardboard Ed. 2/3 11 7/8 x 12 in Provenance: Galerie Mark Hachem, Paris. Private Colle...
Plastic, Cardboard, Digital
Semana Series, Wednesday
By Carlos Cruz Diez
Located in Miami, FL
Semana Series, Wednesday, 2013 Lithography Ed. 53 of 75 24 x 24 in
Lithograph
