Julio Le Parc

Julio Le Parc – Art studies in Buenos Aires; breakthrough in Paris

Julio Le Parc as born on 23rd September 1928 in Menodza in Argentina into a family of limited means. At the age of 13, the artist moved with his mother and brothers to Buenos Aires where he attended the Escuela de Bellas Artes and became acquainted with abstract avant-garde from Lucio Fontana. During his studies he met artists such as Hugo Demarco, Molnar, François Morellet, Francisco Sobrino and Jean-Pierre Yvaral and founded with them the famous Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel, also known under the anacronym GRAV, who tried to substantiate their artistic convictions with the help of scientific research. In Paris, Julio Le Parc also worked in Victor Vasarely's studio and, as a young artist working with light and objects, found the right environment to realise his creative potential. He quickly took part in a large number of group and solo exhibitions, which brought his work to the attention of a growing audience. His Parisian circle of acquaintances included a circle of renowned artists, including Carlos Cruz-Diez, Morellet, Jesús Rafael Soto and Georges Vantongerloo, as well as the gallery owner Denise René.

Artistic success and socio-political commitment

Julio Le Parc celebrated his first exhibition success in 1957 at the São Paolo Biennale in Brazil and established himself as a permanent fixture on the Parisian art scene and beyond over the following eight years. Le Parc soon received prizes and awards for his work, including the Grand Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale in 1966. At times, he proved to be extremely headstrong: in 1972, he cancelled a planned retrospective of his work at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris after flipping a coin to make the decision. He took part in Documenta in Kassel twice: in 1964 as part of the Light and Movement section, and four years later he was represented as an individual artist. In addition to his artistic successes, Julio Le Parc was also politically active, and in his energetic commitment to human rights, he took a clear stance against the dictatorships in his Latin American homeland.

A driving innovative force in kinetic-optical art

Even after the dissolution of the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel in 1969, a group which he had significantly influenced, Julio Le Parc devoted himself entirely to kinetic-optical art. The phenomenon of the perception of the reciprocal influence of light and movement dominates and permeates his entire oeuvre. After reducing his artistic activity in the 1970s and temporarily disappearing from the view of critics and the public, his work experienced a renaissance in the 1990s and 2000s with the renewed interest in light as an artistic medium. In 2004, he collaborated with the Italian artist Yvonne Argenterio and created a series of sculptures. To this day, his work is one of the most sought-after exhibits in numerous international museums and galleries.

Julio Le Parc lives and works in Paris.