Carlos Cruz-Diez

Arguably one of the most important Latin American contemporary artists, Carlos Cruz-Diez was a leading figure of Kinetic Art. Over a period of almost seven decades of research, refinement and discovery, Cruz-Diez focused his practice on the visual effects created by the physical interaction between colours. The artist explored the perception that colour evolves, changing intime and space based on various conditions. He imagined large scale immersive creations based on the interplay of light, colour and geometric abstraction. The Physichromie series is characterised by strips painted in alternative colours attached at right-angles to the surface. As viewers walk alongside the works, they visually come into contact with almost the entire colour spectrum. In another important group of works, Addition Chromatique, the combination of two tones provides the illusion of a third one. Viewing art as a form of communication, Cruz-Diez intervened with public spaces in non-traditional collective engagements. In 1974, Cruz-Diez won a competition to design the interior of the new UBS building at Flurstrasse, in Zurich. Working closely with architects F. A.+ R. Widmer Arch / SIA, Zurich, he realized one of the most ambitious art integration projects ever made by the artist. Created to fill the walls from floor to ceiling, it is comprised of four monumental compositions of which Physichromie UBS Bleu is one. The works were installed in 1978, presenting a series of chromo-kinetic elements such that people traversing through the corridors and common spaces were captivated by an ever-changing colour scheme. When the building on Flurstrasse was sold the UBS Art Collection worked very closely with the artist and the Fundación Taller Cruz-Diez to ensure the prudent removal and restoration of the pieces.