Collection the 50's

Proyecto mural, 71 x 55 cm. Caracas, 1954

The 50's

During this early stage, Carlos Cruz-Diez devoted himself to work on four proposals: 

 

1954-1955

Projects for Exterior walls

In 1954 he created a series of mural projects in an effort to share the pleasure of his discoveries with people who had no access to art. Distinguished among them, is his Proyecto para un muro exterior manipulable (Project for an exterior manipulable wall), the first piece to outline what would later become his primary concern: how to project color into space through reflected light.  

 

1956-1959

Parenchymas or Vegetable Symbols 

These are works that still reflect a certain attachment to the natural or organic world. At the same time, they display his ongoing interest in color and the superimposition of colored areas, as can be appreciated in en El muro rojo (The red wall) 1956, the last piece of these series.   

 

Rhythmic Movable Objects 

Alongside the Parenchymas, Cruz-Diez produced a series called Objetos rítmicos móviles o manipulables (Rhythmic Movable or Manipulable Objects), in which he planned to turn the traditionally contemplative spectator into an active participant. 

 

The concern with visual perception and the instability of a surface

Towards the end of 1956, he focused his research on the instability of a flat surface and the spatial instability that occurs inside the eye when faced with situations of vision at its limit. Such works as Modulación óptica de la superficie, Construcción en el espacio y Construcción en cadena (Optical Modulation of the Surface, Construction in Space),both in 1957, and Estructura óptica (Optical Structure ) 1958 , suggest sequential shapes that invert due to the optical fatigue of the observer. The concern of how to project color into space is also evident in this series.