Background
Julio Le Parc was born on September 23, 1928 in the city of Mendoza, to a working-class family. At thirteen, he and his mother came to Buenos Aires.
Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes
Julio Le Parc was born on September 23, 1928 in the city of Mendoza, to a working-class family. At thirteen, he and his mother came to Buenos Aires.
Julio Le Parc prepared to enter the Escuela de Bellas Artes while also working in a handbag factory to contribute to the family budget. He left art school in 1947, disappointed with the education that he received there and studied Concrete art and the spatialism of Lucio Fontana. Around 1954, he approached an experimental theatre group and entered the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes where he participated in the student movements.
In 1958, Julio Le Parc was awarded a scholarship by the French Cultural Service and he traveled to Paris. There, he met art dealer Denise René and artists such as Vasarely, Vantongerloo, and François Morellet. Later, together with Francisco Sobrino, he experimented with visual instability regarding sequences and progressions and with the possibilities of light images.
In 1960, he founded the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel together with Hugo Demarco, F. García Miranda, Horacio García Rossi, F. Molnar, F. Morellet, S. Moyano, Servanes, F. Sobrino, J. Stein, and Yvaral. The group held its first exhibition at Le Parc's studio. It comprised small light boxes with movement as well as wooden reliefs with which he investigated the effects of indirect and low light. The Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel got in touch with the "N" group of Padua, the "T" group of Milan, and other artists in 1962.
In 1964, he obtained the Special Prize in the Premio Internacional Torcuato Di Tella. At that time, the GRAV made several Labyrinths and, on April 19, 1966, they carried out "Une journée dans la rue", an experiment with audience-participation organized in different locations throughout the city of Paris. That year, he obtained the International Painting Grand Prix at the XXXIII Venice Biennial. In 1967, he held his first retrospective exhibition at the Instituto Di Tella in Buenos Aires. He continued to experiment with pulsating light, distorted forms, and transparent walls.
The following year, as a member of the GRAV, he presented "A la búsqueda de un nuevo espectador" ("In search of a new spectator") in Dortmund, Germany. He also participated in the elaboration of numerous texts, including "Proposals on movement", "No more mythologizing", and "Proposal for a place of activation" among others. During the events of May 1968, he was expelled from France. He traveled around various European countries only to return five months later when the restriction was revoked. The GRAV was dissolved, explicitly recognizing as one of the reasons, the contradiction between the ideal of anonymity that had been proposed and the circumstance of each of the members.
Julio Le Parc participated in "Unofficial Latin America", held in Paris, and the Medellín Biennial in Colombia in 1970. He also held numerous retrospective exhibitions in major museums in Havana, Düsseldorf, Montevideo, Caracas, Asunción, Mexico City, Stockholm, Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Santiago de Chile, and Porto Alegre. Outstanding among his writings are "With regard to spectacle art...", "The social function of art in contemporary society", "Color 1959", and "The artist in the present social context." He participated with the Denuncia group in the collective work "Torture" (1972) and joined the International Brigade of Antifascist Painters in 1975.
From the mid-seventies, Julio developed his works on Modulations in shades of grey and incorporating color. Later he worked on the series "Alchemies." The BBC of London devoted a documentary film to him in 1978. Between 1999 and 2000, he presented an important retrospective exhibition that traveled throughout Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and Cordoba. The artist currently lives in Paris with his family.
Serie 14 N - 4E
Relief #20
Serie 29D No. 1-1 8-8 1-1 8-8
Volumen Vertical
Móvil cuadrado plateado sobre negro
Composition 523 n°12-7
Volume Virtuel 1, Serie 3, Nº8
Composition S -14 - 4
Relief rouge à déplacement
Composition 523 n°13-5
Modulation 710
Modulation 229
L'Alchimiste
Ondes 134, Serie 3
Alchimie #207
Formes Virtuelles Par Deplacement du Spectateur
Modulation 372 (theme 82 variation)
Deplacement d'une courbe #3
Composition Cinétique
Multiple No. 12
Continuel-Lumière Wall Light
Relief #15
Cartones cambiables
CONTINUEL-MOBILE AU PLAFON CONTINGENERS DE LUMIÈRE
Serie 26D, No. 1-3 3-1, 3-1 1-3
Continuel-Lumière au Plafond/Galassia (Ceiling light)
Continuel Mobile
Ordination d'une surface, vitesses progressives de rotation
CONTINUANT LUMIÈRE AVEC 16 CYLINDRES
Collage
Composition Cinétique
unknown title
Continuel Mobile Lumière
Ball
Composition 523 n°10-8
Quotations: “Movement was the ideal solution… and when I saw that light could offer me a solution and at the same time enable me to continue with my investigations, I concentrated on that theme.”
Julio is a founding member of Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel.
During his education, Julio Le Parc met Martha, who was to become his wife.
