modulación 1116, 2003 / 2013

Biography

Julio Le Parc (b. 1928, Mendoza, Argentina) is internationally recognized as one of the leading names in Optical and Kinetic art. Over the course of six decades, he has performed groundbreaking experiments on light, movement and color, seeking to promote new possibilities for the relationship between art and society from a utopian perspective. The artist's canvases, sculptures, and installations challenge the traditional Art Historical definition of paintings: he uses mediums that pertain to pictorial tradition, such as acrylic on canvas, while incorporating formal kinetic processes in the assemblages and apparatus he employs.

 

Julio Le Parc was a co-founder of Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (1960–68), a collective of optical-kinetic artists who set out to encourage the participation of viewers in their art, in order to enhance their abilities to perceive and act. In keeping with these premises, and more generally with the then quite disseminated aspiration to a dematerialized art, an art indifferent to market demands, the group showed in alternative venues and even on the street. Julio Le Parc’s works and installations, which were made from nothing other than the interplay of light and shadow, were a direct result of that context, where the production of a fleeting, unsellable art had a clear socio-political undertone.

 

Julio Le Parc lives and works in Paris, France. Recent solo shows include: Julio Le Parc: Un Visionario, at Centro Cultural Néstor Kirchner (2019), in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Julio Le Parc 1959, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met Breuer) (2018), in New York, USA; Julio Le Parc: da forma à ação, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake (ITO) (2017), in São Paulo, Brazil; Julio Le Parc: Form into Action, at Perez Art Museum (2016), in Miami, USA. Recent group shows include: Action Reaction. 100 Years of Kinetic Art, at Kunsthal Rotterdam (2018), Rotterdam, The Netherlands; The Other Trans-Atlantic: Kinetic & Op Art in Central & Eastern Europe and Latin America 1950s-1970s, at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (2018), in Moscow, Russia, at Sesc Pinheiros (2018), in São Paulo, Brazil, and at Museum of Modern Art (2017), in Warsaw, Poland; Kinesthesia: Latin American Kinetic Art, 1954-1969, II Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA (II PST: LA/LA), at Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM) (2017), in Palm Springs, USA; Retrospect: Kinetika 1967, at Belvedere Museum (2016), in Vienna, Austria; The Illusive Eye, at El Museo del Barrio (2016), in New York, USA. His works are a part of important collections, such as: Daros Collection, Zurich, Switzerland; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France; and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA, among others.

Exhibitions

News

Press

  • View article

    Pilares de las artes plásticas mendocinas: Le Parc, Carlos Alonso y Fernando Fader

    Los Andes 23.10.2022
  • julio le parc: View article

    julio le parc: "las raíces son fundamentales. cuando me fui de buenos aires ya estaba formado"

    Celina Chatruc, La Nacion 22.9.2019
  • como en los 50, un View article

    como en los 50, un "joven" julio le parc revive en el museo nacional de bellas artes

    Celina Chatruc, La Nacion 14.8.2019
  • at 90, this artist is still opening doors of perception Download View article

    at 90, this artist is still opening doors of perception

    holland cotter, the new york times 24.1.2019
  • julio le parc: 'nada na minha obra está fechado em um ciclo' Download

    julio le parc: 'nada na minha obra está fechado em um ciclo'

    Nelson Gobbi, O Globo 28.9.2018
  • julio le parc, serpentine gallery, london - interview Download

    julio le parc, serpentine gallery, london - interview

    Edwin Heathcote, Financial Times 7.1.2015
  • julio le parc, artist: Download

    julio le parc, artist: "i was attacking the idea of the extraordinary artist"

    Karen Wright, The Independent 28.11.2014
  • obras de le parc Download

    obras de le parc "vivirán" en miami

    Marcos Álvarez, Los Andes 20.11.2014
  • julio le parc Download

    julio le parc

    Frank Expósito, ArtForum 14.2.2014
  • julio le parc, le grand illusionniste Download

    julio le parc, le grand illusionniste

    Élisabeth Vedrenne, Counnaissance des Arts 4.4.2013
  • lumiere et mouvement Download

    lumiere et mouvement

    Anael Pigeat, Art Press 1.4.2013
  • le spectateur devrait resister, reagir Download

    le spectateur devrait resister, reagir

    Quotidien de L'Art 25.2.2013
  • visite au maître des lumières Download

    visite au maître des lumières

    Bernard Genies, Le Nouvel Observateur 21.2.2013
  • julio le parc: retour en pleine lumière Download

    julio le parc: retour en pleine lumière

    Valérie Duponchelle, Le Figaroscope 13.2.2013
  • des mois d'hallucinations en boucle Download

    des mois d'hallucinations en boucle

    Emmanuelle Lequeux, Beaux Arts 17.1.2013
  • julio le parc - a revolution with all the lights on Download

    julio le parc - a revolution with all the lights on

    Marcela Costa Peuser e Laura Batkis, Arte Al Día Internacional 3.3.2006
  • le parc faz retrospectiva em duas exposições Download

    le parc faz retrospectiva em duas exposições

    Adriana Fernandes Farias, Gazeta Mercantil 7.5.2001
  • o mestre da luz Download

    o mestre da luz

    Fabio Cypriano, Ilustrada 7.5.2001
  • políticas visuais de um militante Download

    políticas visuais de um militante

    Gilberto de Abreu, Jornal do Brasil 6.5.2001

Critical Essays

  • “Quem pode se interessar pelo que algumas crianças pensam sobre uma exposição?”[1]

    Rodrigo Moura
    A resposta a essa pergunta tem o nome de seu formulador: Julio Le Parc. Desde que sua obra surgiu no meio da arte internacional, no fim dos anos 1950, em Paris, Le Parc é defensor de uma espécie de democracia nas artes. Como forma de aplicar sua formação marxista, com seus valores pró-participação e pró-emancipação, ele pensa que, na arte como na política, todo poder emana do povo e em seu nome será exercido. E nesse sentido, ninguém melhor do que as crianças para se afetarem, opinarem e fazerem a roda do tempo girar. “É proibido não participar. É proibido não tocar. É proibido não quebrar.” Assim proclamava o pioneiro manifesto do GRAV (Groupe de Récherche d’Art Visuel), em outubro 1963[2] . Neste credo, um tanto idealista, a arte tem a capacidade de ativar o potencial libertário de cada um de nós por simplesmente despertar nossas faculdades perceptivas. A pura forma se torna assim política, e faz emergir com força a noção de espectador, como êmulo do eleitorado...