- Jesús Rafael Soto
Infobox Artist
name = Jesús Rafael Soto
birthdate = Birth date|1923|6|5|mf=y
location =Ciudad Bolívar
deathdate = death date and age|2005|1|14|1923|6|5|mf=y
deathplace =Paris
nationality = Venezuelan
training = Escuela de Artes Plasticas y Aplicadas
movement = Kinetic and Op Art
works = Penetrables
influenced by =
Jesús Rafael Soto (
June 5 ,1923 -January 14 ,2005 ) was aVenezuela n artist. He was a sculptor and painter and is most famous for hisop art andkinetic art works.He was born in
Ciudad Bolívar ,Venezuela . He began his artistic career as a boy painting cinema posters in his native city. He received his artistic training in Caracas.He directed the "Escuela de Artes Plasticas" inMaracaibo from 1947 to 1950, when he left for Paris and began associating withYaacov Agam ,Jean Tinguely ,Victor Vasarely , and other artists connected with the "Salon des Realites Nouvelles" and the "Galerie Denise Rene". He became world-famous as a kinetic sculptor.Soto is particularly well known for his penetrables, interactive sculptures which consist of square arrays of thin, dangling tubes through which observers can walk. It has been said of Soto's art that it is inseparable from the viewer; it can only stand completed in the illusion perceived by the mind as a result of observing the piece.
From 1970 until the early 1990s, Soto's works appeared in places such as the
Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum inNew York City , as well as theCentre Georges Pompidou inParis . [http://www.artnet.com/Galleries/Artists_detail.asp?gid=914&aid=24248] In 1973, theJesús Soto Museum of Modern Art opened inCiudad Bolívar ,Venezuela with a collection of his work - a large number of the exhibits are wired to the electricity supply so that they can move . The Venezuelan architectCarlos Raúl Villanueva designed the building for the museum and the italian op artistGetulio Alviani was called to direct it.Some of Soto's work adorns the ceiling of the main hall of Caracas' arts centre, the "Teatro Teresa Carreño".
Jesús Rafael Soto died in 2005 in Paris, and is buried in the
Cimetière du Montparnasse .References
* [http://www.jr-soto.com] Artist's Official Website
* [http://www.google.fr/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=mozilla2&q=soto] "Jesús Rafael Soto"
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