Julio Le Parc
(1928–)
Julio Le Parc
1928–
Julio Le Parc (1928– ) is an Argentinian painter, installation artist, researcher, and a renowned figure in experimental visual arts. He focuses on modern optical and kinetic art; his work aims to break down the boundaries between art and viewer, using color, line, light, shadow, and movement to create perceptually illusory sculptures, paintings, and installations that challenge passivity and encourage creativity and reflection. Le Parc is a founding member of Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (Visual Art Research Group) and received the Grand Prize for Painting at the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966.
Le Parc was born in Mendoza, Argentina, and studied at the National University of the Arts. He became interested in the relationship between light and form. From 1955 to 1958, he participated in the occupations of the Academy of Fine Arts and the reformulation of its programs, guided by avant-garde artists such as the Arte-Concreto-Invención and the Spaziliasmo movement.
In 1958, Le Parc received a French government scholarship to move to Paris. There, he worked on art related to the kinetic arts, exploring three dimensions, movement, and light. Mondrian and constructivism influenced Le Parc, and his work was influenced by seeing Victor Vasarely's exhibition in Buenos Aires in 1958.
Le Parc’s works have been showcased in numerous solo shows and group exhibitions across Europe and Latin America, including the Venice Biennale and São Paulo Biennial. He boycotted the 1969 São Paulo Biennial to protest Brazil’s military regime and later participated in anti-fascist movements in Chile, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Le Parc lives and works and Paris and recently been the subject of major retrospectives.