Jesús Rafael Soto

Jesús was a pioneer of the idea that a viewer could actually walk into an artwork and experience it from the inside, something we now take for granted, but which was revolutionary in its time. Born in Venezuela, it was in Paris in the 1950s that he immersed himself in the movements that were transforming Geometric Abstraction by using effects of motion and movement to bring artworks to life: literally, as in Kinetic Art, or metaphorically, as in Op Art, in which paintings or sculptures appear to be moving due to visual trickery. His works were realized on increasingly grand scales, so that eventually viewers could move within and throughout his vast sculptural forms. This made his work perfect for realization as grand public art, and so his legacy is visible across many cityscapes today.

#jesusrafaelsoto

Jesus Rafael Soto

Jesus was the source (#rip) for a couple of the gems in the stellar #SurModerno at #MOMA. Mad snaps to the museum for focusing on the breadth of Modernism (I too have a love of Concretist artists like Lygia and Virginia)- it makes the import of the aesthetic response to the epoch more rich. Amazing work in this show of which I’ll share more.

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