Description

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The seminal writing of Carlos Cruz-Diez, best known for his experiential works exploring color and its properties

Trained as a painter, Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923–2019) developed a conceptual platform for his work based on optical and chromatic phenomena, which led him to take a revolutionary new approach to his work beginning in 1959. Building on the chromatic experiments of figures like Sir Isaac Newton, the impressionists, and Josef Albers, Cruz-Diez explored the perception of color as an autonomous reality evolving in space and time, unaided by form or support, in a perpetual present.

Originally published in Spanish in 1989, Reflection on Color details Cruz-Diez’s theories of color and traces the aesthetic and conceptual evolution of his practice. Though the book was translated into English in Cruz-Diez’s lifetime, it never saw broad distribution. In this text, Cruz-Diez explores eight of his major investigations into color phenomena, including his signature Physichromie and Chromosaturation series. Generously illustrated with examples of Cruz-Diez’s work, this important text introduces Cruz-Diez’s writing and thinking to a new generation of artists and scholars.

Distributed for the Cruz-Diez Foundation

About the Author

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Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923–2019) was a major figure in contemporary art, often associated with the Kinetic and Optical Art movements. His work is housed in major collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou.