Alberto Biasi is an Italian artist renown or his abstract mixed media works which include elements of Op-Art and also kinetic art.
Alberto Biasi was born in the province of Padua, Italy in the year 1937.
His works are famous for the fact that the surface of the image appears to shift as the viewer changes their position. You can even see this in the second video clip.
In this clip a montage of works over the artist’s lengthy career beginning in the 1950s:
To close we visit a show featuring Alberto Biasi that took place in 2012:
The artist is part of many prominent collections including the Museum of Modern Art located in New York City.
Price range information: Works range from $10,000 to $70,000.
I enjoy the mixture of kinetic and op art employed by Biasi. Whilst similar to such luminaries as Bridget Riley or Victor Vasarely, Biasi’s art has unique feel all to its own.
Bruno Munari was born in 1907 in Milan, Italy. Munari is associated with the abstract and futurist movements. The artist worked in many mediums including painting, sculpture, film, and even poetry. For design the Munari worked with many items designing espresso machines, ashtrays, and even televisions.
Another creative venture for Munari was creating children’s books. The artist created and illustrated many children’s books over his lifetime. These books were “fun” for kids as Munari used textures and sometimes kinectic art to get children to touch and interact with his books.
A large influence on Munari was theorist and writer Filippo Marinetti.
At the beginning of his working career as a graphic designer.
The artist joined the second Futurist movement in Italy, but left this movement because of political dissent of the artist to the Facist movement.
Bruno Munari passed away in 1988 at the age of 90 years old.
In this clip we view a show featuring some kinetic works by Bruno Munari:
Price range information: Works range from $3,000 to $50,000.
What fantastic geometric shapes and design by Bruno Munari in his creation of abstract works of art.
Rebecca Horn is contemporary artist born in the year 1944 in the city of Michelstad, Germany. Horn is a superbly well rounded artist that paints, sculpts, works with film and video, and also produces installation art. Horn uses very unique materials in her art including ostrich eggs, fossils, and 18 karat gold. Many of paintings are very abstract. Butterflies are recurring theme of the artist.
Rebecca Horn also enjoys writing poetry.
In this clip we view a gallery show from 2011:
For her artistic education Horn attended a school in Hamburg, Germany called the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, from the age of 20 to 26. Saint Martin’s School of Art located in London, England. Whilst in college in Hamburg she developed an awful lung infection due to working with materials such as fiberglass. She then made the switch to different materials including ostrich eggs.
The artist splits her time between Paris, France and Berlin, Germany.
In this clip we view an kinetic work of art by Rebecca Horn. How whimsical!
Horn began exhibiting her artwork in 2002.
The artist is part of many prominent collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
price range informaton: Most works priced between $2,000 and $200,000.
Jesus Rafael de Soto was born in Ciudad, Bolivar, Venezuela in the year 1923. Soto went on to become one of the most popular artists from the country. His art is a wonderful mix of Op art and kinetic art.
At the age of 19 the artist won a scholarship to study in Caracas.
He then took off for Europe in 1950. Whilst in Paris de Soto would meet other artists that had similar artistic goals and perceptions of art. He was able to meet Yaacov Agam, Jean Tinguely, and Victor Vasarely.
In this clip the artist gives one of his last interviews. It is subtitled in English. He talks about how light inspires his work.
Watch a group of people perform the installation of one of the artists works.
By far the most interesting clip of this bunch! In this clip we actually get to walk through a penetrable work done by the artist! Its interesting to hear the sounds produced! A great way to experience an installation.
Two other artists influencing de Soto were Piet Mondrian and Kaspar Malevich.
Price range info: De Soto used many mediums in his work with the highest priced being works done using wood which range from $20,000 to $460,000. Even higher priced are acrylics which range from $20,000 to $530,000. Works done using metals range from $10,000 to $40,000.
De Soto passes away in 2005 at the age of 81 years old whilst living in Paris. His body is buried in Paris, France in the cemetery located in the 14th arrondissement of the city.
His art is included in many well known museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and also the Guggenheim.
In addition to paintings and sculpture work the artist made items called penetrables. A sculpture in which the viewer would be part of the art and view the whilst inside the art. These could also be described as installations as the viewer was meant to become part of the art. These installations are comprised of many hundred dangling tubes.
In 1973 a museum named after the artist opened in his hometown of Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela.
I love when actual artists are museum directors, I would love to see more artists emulate Damien Hirst for example. De Soto wanted an actual op-art artist to run his museum and asked the great Italian Op Art master Getulio Alvani. Alvani came to love working and exploring different surfaces. Here is a great example of Alvani’s Op Art style.
If you enjoy this style of art as much as me make sure and check out Carlos Cruz Diez. Another pioneer in the Op-Art movement that was also from Venezuela. Diez was born in 1923 and is still alive today. Below is a great example of his signature style that stresses movement and basic geometric shapes. In December I did a post on Cruz Diez if you would like to learn more about him.
Don’t be so rigid in your art appreciation! Try to appreciate all forms of art! At least respect the creativity involved!
Below is a clip showing how alive Op Art can be. This is a limited edition piece by Carlos Cruz-Diez.
Carlos Cruz Diez is best known for his large public works. Many sculptures use theories from op art or from kinetic art. Carlos Cruz- Diez was born in Caracas, Venezuela in the year 1923.
A clip showing some of his work from Art Basel in 2009. This work is outside a building and makes tremendous colors when sunlight hits upon it. But the viewer can get a great feeling for how Cruz-Diez uses plexiglass in his art.
He currently makes his home in Paris. In his lifetime he has gone back and forth teaching and working in both Paris, France and Caracas, Venezuela.
He is still alive today and is eighty- nine years old.
Was named a graphic designer for the department of education publications unit. He also was part of the teaching faculty at the Caracas School of Fine Art and the Central Caracas University.
He was chosen to teach kinetic art in Paris in 1972-73.
Two artists that influenced Carlos Cruz-Diaz were Josep Albers and George Seurat. Albers was a fantastic German artist who loved to experiment with basic geometric shapes and repeat the same color in many works. Below is an example of Albers’ signature style.
Carlos Cruz-Diez has been quite productive and has lived to be nearly nine decades old and he has been quite productive over his career. Silkscreens run from $2,000 to $170,000. Works in acrylics range from $18,000 to $722,000. Serigraphs range from $500 to $237,000.
When comparing the artist to other well known Venezuelan artists I think of the artist Jesus Soto. Soto was born in 1923 and passed away in 2005. Below is a great example of his kinetic artwork. Carlos Cruz-Diez arrived in Paris ten years behind Soto.
Cruz-Diez also was lucky in that the dictatorship that ran the country when he was born, was finished in the 1930s. The new leader, Contreras, thought artists should study European Modernist painters such as Cezanne. Many artists were encouraged to study abroad in Paris. Carlos Cruz-Diez took advantage of this great opportunity. Venezuela came across a large oil find and this led to an increase in urban areas and machines. This new society took a liking to kinetic artists like Soto and Carlos Cruz-Diez.
Below is a great clip showing work by the artist at the 2009 Art Basel show. The work is placed outside on a building showing the viewer different effects based on changes in sunlight.
Cruz-Diez has made his focus on line, color, light, and different perspectives for the viewer to see his art. He plays with color by using different transparent shades of plexiglass. When hit by sunlight the art really comes to life!
In 1997 a musuem named after Carlos Cruz-Diez was opened in Caracas, Venezuela.
How about trying to design a piece of Op Art or Kinetic Art today!
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