The Grid in Modern Latin American Art
December 1, 2020 – January 16, 2021
Julio Le Parc, Serie 29 No. 1-1-1-1, 1970. Acrylic on canvas, 67 5/16 x 67 5/16 in. (171 x 171 cm.)
Julio Le Parc, Serie 14 No. 11, 1971. Acrylic on canvas, 47 3/16 x 47 3/16 in. (120 x 120 cm.)
JULIO LE PARC (b. 1928, Argentina)
“Movement was the ideal solution … and when I saw that light could offer me a solution and at the same time enable me to continue with my investigations, I concentrated on that theme.”
Julio Le Parc was born in 1928 to a working-class family in Mendoza, Argentina. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires before moving to Paris in 1958. In 1960, along with François Morellet, Francisco Sobrino, Yvaral and others, Le Parc formed GRAV (Groupe de Recherche d’ Art Visuel), a group which produced participatory art. The artists of GRAV added the element of movement to their work, to alter time and space and engage viewers in both a visual and visceral way.
While Le Parc is known for creating work that relies heavily upon theory and abstraction, throughout his career he has been concerned with the breakdown of structures that uphold the divisions between art and society. He routinely used questionnaires to solicit information from the public about their thoughts on modern and avant-garde art. On April 19, 1966 GRAV created Une Journée dans la rue (Day in the Street) in Paris. The public project invited passersby to walk and balance on large, uneven blocks of wood, to look through a giant kaleidoscope, and to interact with various projects. In one of the several manifestos produced by GRAV, Le Parc writes of “a transformation role of the artist, from an individual creator into a sort of activator to bring people out their dependence and passivity.”
After GRAV disbanded in 1968, each of the participating artists continued to make work on his own. Le Parc’s production ranges from intense color studies to large sculptures and interactive installations, all focused upon the intimate relationship between viewer and object. His paintings and sculptures blur the lines between modernity and the natural world, creating structures that combine both industrial precision and organic forms—plant-like structures that recall stems and growth.
Le Parc’s most widely exhibited work deals with light: using reflection, refraction, and shadows to create dazzling arrangements, to produce a “dynamic viewer.” His light installations are made from materials such as wire, mirrors, lenses and boxes. In these works rotating parts complicate the location of the light source, creating a sense of wonder and awe.
| 2019 | Julio Le Parc. Un visionario. The CCK, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
2017 | Julio Le Parc: Form into Action - Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo |
| Julio Le Parc: Bifurcations - Galerie Perrotin - Paris, Paris |
2016 | Form into Action, Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) Miami FL USA |
| Premio Escultura Julio Le Parc, Fundación Fortabat, Puerto Madero, Argentina |
| Presentación Variations autour de la longue marche, Maison des Carrés Hermès, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Esfera Azul, Centro Cultural Kirchner (CCK), Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Julio Le Parc: Form->Action, Pérez Art Museum (PAM), Miami, FL, USA |
2015 | Variations autour de la longue marche, Maison des Carrés Hermès, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Homenaje a Julio Le Parc, Biennal Curitiba: Luz do mundo, Museo Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil |
| Lumière en Mouvement: Julio Le Parc, Lexus Hybrid Art, Moscow, Russia |
| Julio Le Parc: Lumière, Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden |
| Instituto Inhotim, “Dias que parecem não passar”, palabras Julio Le Parc |
2014 | Inauguración Torsión I y Sphère Rouge, Brickell Avenue, Miami, FL, USA |
| Julio Le Parc: A Kaleidoscopic, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, England |
| Julio Le Parc: Lumière, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires Malba (MALBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina |
2013 | A Constant Quest, Galería Nara Roesler, São Paulo, Brasil |
| Julio Le Parc, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France |
| Julio Le Parc Coleurs, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris, France |
| Alchimies, Modulations, Torsions, Galerie Lélia Mordoch, Paris, France |
| Julio Le Parc, Galerie Denise René, Paris, France |
| Julio Le Parc: Multiples, Galerie de Multiples, Paris, France |
| Le Parc Lumière: Kinetic Works by Julio Le Parc, Casa Daros, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
2012 | Nuit Blanche 2012: Obélisque en lumière Le Parc, Place de la Concorde, Paris, France Lumière en vibration, Espace Beaugrenelle, Paris, France |
2011 | L'œil du cyclope. Œuvres de 1959 à 1971, Galerie Bugada & Cargnel, Paris, France |
2010 | Otra Mirada, Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
2009 | Le Parc Lumière, Casa de las Américas, La Havane, Cuba |
| Torsión 4, sculpture, Monterrey, Mexico |
2008 | Julio Le Parc: Histoire de Lumière, Galerie Lélia Mordoch, Paris, France |
| Blanco - Negro/Blanco - Negro, Galeria Argentina, Paris, France |
2007 | Luz en Movimiento. Colleción Daros-Latinamerica, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango Casa Republicana, Bogota, Colombia |
| Julio Le Parc, Galeria Nara Roesler, São Paulo, Brazil |
2006 | Julio Le Parc et Vertige Vertical, Orangerie du Château de Sucy, Sucy-en-Brie, France |
| Le Parc Lumière, Laboratoire d'art Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico |
2005 | Le Parc Lumière, Fondation Daros-LatinAmerica, Zürich, Switzerland |
| Julio Le Parc et Vertige Vertical, L’Orangerie, Cachan, France |
2004 | Archivio di Stato / Palazzo del Senato |
2003 | Il Cinetismo quarant'anni dopo, Circolo degli Artisti, Palazzo Graneri della Rocca, Torino, Italy |
2002 | Modulations & Alchimies, Studio F.22, Palazzolo sull’Oglio, Brescia, Italy |
| Galleria d’arte Tarozzi, Pordenone, Italy |
2001 | Julio Le Parc: Luz e Movimento, Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Julio Le Parc: Retrospectivamente, Galerie Nara Roesler, São Paulo, Brazil |
| O escultor da luz e do movimento, Centro Dragão do Mar de Arte e Cultura, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brésil |
| Opere dagli anni '60 al 2000, Valmore Studio d'Arte, Vicenza, Italy |
2000 | Dialogando con la luz de Julio Le Parc, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Neuquen, Argentina. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Cordoba, Argentina |
| Julio Le Parc y Homenaje a Las Manos Silenciadas de Martha Le Parc, Espacio Contemporáneo de Arte, Mendoza, Argentine |
| Alchimies 1988-2000, Galerie Lavignes-Bastille, Paris, France |
| Julio Le Parc Fête La Lumière, La Galerie Villa des Tourelle, Nanterre, France |
1999
| Espaço Julio Le Parc, Experiencias de 1959 a 1999, II Bienal de Artes Visuais do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil Dialogue Lumière. Exposition des Deux Côtés de la Mar, Fort Liédot, l'Ile d'Aix, France. Tour Saint-Nicolas, la Rochelle, France Modulation, Galleria Melesi, Lecco, Italy |
1998 | Alquimas, Sala de Arte Contemporaneo, Quito, Equador |
1997 | Julio Le Parc, Galeries du Théâtre, Centre Culturel de Cherbourg, France |
| Salle des Jeux, Ecole de Beaux Arts, Cherbourg, France |
| Julio Le Parc, Galeria Italia, Alicante, Spain |
| Alquimas, Sala de Exposiciones CAM, Alicante, Spain |
1996 | Julio Le Parc: Alquimias, Galeria Rayuela, Madrid, Spain. Studio f22, Brescia, Italy. Galeria Italia Alicante, Spain |
| Salle de Jeux et Travaux de Surface, Anis Gras, Arcueil, France |
| Alchimies: Œvrues Récentes, Galerie Dionne, Paris, France |
| Les Années Lumière, Espace Electra, Paris, France |
1995 | Les Années Lumière. Espace Art Brenne, Parc Naturel de La Brenne, France |
| Portes Ouvertes, Cachan, France |
1994 | Recherches 1958-1994, Galerie Michael, Heidelberg, Germany |
| Art en Fête – Fête de l’Art, Galerie Les Lumières, Nanterre, France |
1993 | Julio Le Parc, Studio F.22, Palazzolo sull’Oglio, Brescia, Italy |
1992 | Alquimias, Galería Van Eyck, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Recherches 1958-1973, Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Galleria Paolo Nanni, Bologna, Italy |
1991 | Obra reciente, Galería Punto, Valence, Spain |
| Galerie Italia, Alicante, Spain |
| Galleria Melesi, Lecco, Italy |
1990 | Galería Aritza, Bilbao, Spain |
| Opere grafiche e acrilici di Julio Le Parc, Verifica 8+1, Mestre, Venise, Italy |
| Galería Trazos Tres, Santander, Spain |
| Galleria Bergamini, Milan, Italy |
| Alquimias, Galería Rayuela, Madrid, Spain |
| Julio Le Parc, Studio F.22, Palazzolo sull’Oglio, Italy |
| Alchimie e Modulazioni, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Rotta, Gênes, Italy |
1989 | Galerie Van Eyck, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Experiencias. Retrospectiva, Universidad Católica, Santiago, Chili |
| Experiencias – 30 años (1958-1988), 5ta Avenida, Mendoza, Argentina |
1988 | Rétrospective Le Parc & Le Parc, Salas Nacionales, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Modulazioni di Julio Le Parc, Studio F.22, Palazzolo sull’Oglio, Italy |
| Julio Le Parc, Galería Alberto Elia, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Julio Le Parc, Maison de la culture, Salta, Argentina |
| Julio Le Parc, Galerie Pryzmat, Cracovie, Poland |
1987 | Modulaciones, Galería Carmen Waugh, Santiago, Chilé |
| Julio Le Parc, Galerie Aeblegaarden, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Julio Le Parc, Galerías Arte Autopista, Medellín, Colombia |
| Julio Le Parc, Sala de Arte Contemporaneo, Quito, Ecuador |
| Julio Le Parc, Salle Municipal, Crevillent, Spain |
| Julio Le Parc, Galleria la Chiocciola, Padua, Italy |
| Julio Le Parc, Villa Durazzo, Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy |
| Julio Le Parc, Institut Français de Culture, Santiago, Chile |
1986 | Obra reciente, Galería Punto, Valence, Spain |
| Julio Le Parc, Galería Italia 2, Alicante, Spain |
| Portes ouvertes à l’atelier Le Parc, Atelier Le Parc, Cachan, France |
| Rétrospective 1959-1985, Salle Municipal, Valencia, Spain |
| Rétrospective. La Lonja, Zaragoza, Spain |
1985 | Julio Le Parc, Galerie Juan Gris, Madrid, Spain |
| Julio Le Parc, Galerie Rayuela, Madrid, Spain |
| Modulaciones, Sala de Arte Contemporáneo, Quito, Ecuador |
1984 | Julio Le Parc, Galerie II Cenobio, Milan, Italy |
| Modulaciones, Galería Alberto Elía, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Julio Le Parc, Galería Camino, Brent, Lima, Peru |
| Julio Le Parc, Galerías Arte Autopista, Medellín, Colombia |
| Nuevas Modulaciones, Galería de arte Diners, Bogota, Colombia |
| Julio Le Parc, Musée Omar Rayo, Roldanillo, Colombia |
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA
Fondation Peter Stuyvesant, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Fondation Sara-Hilder Tempere, Finland
Galerie Nationale d'art Moderne, Rome, Italy
Galerie Suvremene Umjetnosti, Zagreb, Yugoslavia
Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
Musée d'art Contemporain Montréal, Montreal, Canada
Musée d'Art Moderne de a Ville de Paris, France
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo (MEIAC), Badajoz, Spain
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museum Athenaeum, Helsinki, Finland
Museum Bymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), TX, USA
Museum Lousiana, Humbleabaek, Denmark
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY, USA
New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), New Orleans, LA, USA
Tate Gallery, London, UK
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Walraf-Richartz-Museum, Koln, Germany
