Julio Le Parc

Upon moving to France and there becoming acquainted with other young, like-minded artists such as François Morellet, Horacio Garcia Rossi and Francisco Sobrino, Julio Le Parc co-founded the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel (Visual Art Research Group, 1960–68). This was an artist collective which aimed to make art more accessible and politically relevant, shifting the focus from the solitary artist to the public and moreover, conceiving the public as co-creators of the work. Using industrial, mechanical, and kinetic techniques alike, Le Parc and his peers were sociopolitically invested in generating unmediated encounters between the art object and viewer: staging engaging, dynamic and playful art experiences in the public space of 1960’s Paris.

Central to Julio Le Parc's work has always been the concern for how art might stimulate the active participation of the public. Nothing is to hinder the viewer from experiencing the power of his artworks; no art historical references, symbolism or other kind of previous knowledge necessary. Influenced early on by the constructivist movement known as Arte Concreto Invención, as well as artists such as Piet Mondrian and Victor Vasarely, Le Parc’s quest for accessibility is directly linked to his experimentations on geometric abstraction, optokinetic forms and perception. Experiments whereby he manipulates chromatic color palettes, negative space and the interplay of light and shadow - creating compositions that combine a distinct intensity with a subtle expression of continuous movement.

Though Julio Le Parc’s diverse practice spans painting, sculpture, reliefs, immersive installations, kinetic constructions such as mobiles and even virtual reality works – a similar application of rigorous organizing principles can be found in his works, creating seemingly endless variations and repetitions of colour and form.

Julio Le Parc (b. 1928 in Mendoza, Argentina) attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires before moving to Paris in 1958, where he still resides and works. Le Parc represented Argentina at the 1966 Venice Biennale and was there awarded the Grand International Prize for Painting. He has been the subject of two prior solo exhibitions in Sweden: at the Moderna Museet Stockholm in 1969 and at Bildmuseet - Umeå University, Umeå in 2015.

Le Parc is widely exhibited around the world. His latest solo and group exhibitions include Centre d’Art Contemporain de la Matmut, Rouen, France (2021); Maison Hermès, Tokyo (2021); Virtual Contemporary, Istanbul (2021); Tabakalera, San Sebastián, Spain (2020); Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain (MAMAC), Nice (2019); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2019).

Julio Le Parc is likewise represented in some of the world’s leading modern and contemporary art collections, such as Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires (MACBA); Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montréal; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris; Musée National d’Art Moderne Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Tate Gallery, London; Daros Latinamerica, Zurich.

In September 2022, Le Livre Art Publishing released Julio Le Parc, the most comprehensive monograph to date on the artist.

Here is an interview with Julio Le Parc from his exhibition Julio Le Parc 1959 at The Met Breuer in 2018-2019.