Light Show, Sydney, Australia 2015
Lightopia, Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany 2013
Short Cuts, Centre PasquArt, Bienne, Switzerland, 2015
Light Show, Sydney, Australia 2015
Our Collaborations
As well as producing our own exhibitions, the Cruz-Diez Art Foundation is keen to collaborate with institutions to put on exhibitions of exceptional quality and public interest.
Due to our privileged access to Cruz-Diez’s archives we are able to source historical information. The Cruz-Diez Art Foundation is also willing to contribute works from our own Collection of over one hundred pieces charting Cruz-Diez’s researches around color from 1954 to the present day. This includes works that highlight his defining moments including Physichromies from 1960 and Chromosaturation from 1965. We can also produce original works in conjunction with Cruz-Diez and his workshops that are entirely bespoke for an exhibition space.
Our team has proven experience of working on large and highly demanding collaborative projects, all the while working in close partnership with curators and venue staff to ensure it is an effective team effort.
Past collaborative exhibitions include 2013’s Light Show at the Hayward Gallery in London, for which we loaned a Chromosaturation. This collective exhibition showcased the artworks of 17 artists from seven countries since the 1960s. It subsequently went on an international tour that visited New Zealand, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Chile between 2014 and 2016.
Cruz-Diez’s first major retrospective, Cruz-Diez: Color In Space and Time, was a partnership with the Museum of Fine Art, Houston in 2011. It was four years in the making and featured more than 150 works, attracting nearly half a million visitors over a period of six months, before going on to tour Latin America in Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Mexico City.
The 9 Lights in 9 Rooms collective exhibition at Daelim Museum, Seoul in December 2015 is an interesting example of the many facets of the Cruz-Diez Art Foundation coming together in synergy in a collaborative project. This vibrant and active museum integrated workshops and activities into its programme, as well as making full use of the exchange of information with our knowledgable team.
Ephemeral events
Intervention Chromatique dans la Cour ovale, Maison de l'Amérique Latine, Paris, France 2014 Ephemeral intervention on 16 pilasters at the baroque oval court of the Maison de l'Amerique latine.
Induction Chromatique à double fréquence Intervention on a public bus on regular service between art fairs Burst Art Fair and Art Basel Miami Beach.
Environement Chromointerférent. Projected on the show “Chromatiques” from Carmen Wörn’s dance company, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) Houston, United States, 2011
Intervention Chromatique dans la Cour ovale, Maison de l'Amérique Latine, Paris, France 2014 Ephemeral intervention on 16 pilasters at the baroque oval court of the Maison de l'Amerique latine.
For Cruz-Diez the routine of our daily lives in the city makes us go into a state of autopilot. Walking to work, crossing the street, riding the bus - these are all mundane activities we carry out with mono-vision, without giving it any real thought, beyond the established pattern of how to get from A to B.
Since the 1970s Cruz-Diez has been looking for ways to disrupt the daily journeys through our urban spaces, in an attempt to awaken our senses. These acts of social engagement, which the artist views as his social responsibility, are intended to stimulate and delight the public consciousness, through the act of surprise.
Take his crosswalk integrations - first integrated into the streets of Caracas in 1975 - where suddenly something as routine as crossing the street becomes a special experience rather than another mundane moment. Similarly, Cruz-Diez integrated his Induction Chromatique [Chromatic Induction] on city buses in Caracas in 1975 to disrupt commuters’ habitual journey to work. That morning passengers and bystanders experienced a childlike wonder for the briefest of moments, rather than accepting the automatic.
From 2009 the Cruz-Diez Foundation has participated in these ephemeral events, each one entirely bespoke to country and street. His Couleur Additive [Additive Color] appeared as crosswalks outside the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in 2009 and 2011, outside the Miami Beach Convention Center in 2010 and on a roundabout outside the Place des Victoires in Paris in 2012. His Induction Chromatique a double fréquence appeared on the perimeter wall of the Casa Daros in Rio, Brazil in 2011. His Couleur Additive, appeared on the ‘Edmund Gardner’ vessel in Liverpool’s Albert dock in 2014 as part of the Liverpool Biennial.
Often created during the night following considerable difficulty with obtaining permission from city authorities, Cruz-Diez was a pioneer of street art, first creating his ephemeral events long before it was popularized.