Jesus Rafael Soto biography

- JESUS ​​RAFAEL SOTO ARTIST

Jesús Rafael Soto was a Venezuelan painter and sculptor among the most influential of the kinetic art movement, known for his interactive and dynamic works which involved the viewer in a unique visual experience.

Born in 1923 in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, Jesus Rafael Soto showed precocious artistic talent from a young age by painting movie posters for movie theaters in his hometown. His desire to deepen his artistic skills led him to enroll in the Art Academy of Caracas, where he received training that would lay the foundation for his future artistic career. Subsequently, in 1947, he had the opportunity to direct the Escuela de Artes Plasticas in Maracaibo, a crucial formative period that marked the beginning of his journey towards kinetic art.

In 1950, he moved to Paris, where he came into contact with important avant-garde artists such as Jean Tinguely, Victor Vasarely and Yaacov Agam . These encounters profoundly influenced him and led him to explore kinetic art, an artistic movement that exploits movement and optical illusion to actively involve the viewer.

The works of Jesus Rafael Soto soon became known internationally thanks to exhibitions organized in important art galleries such as the Denise René Gallery and the Salon des Realites Nouvelles. His fame grew to such an extent that, between the 70s and 90s, his creations found space in renowned museums such as the MOMA and the Guggenheim Museum in New York

A significant tribute to his artistic career was the Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art , inaugurated in 1973 in Ciudad Bolívar, his hometown. Designed by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, the museum houses numerous works by the artist, including paintings, sculptures and installations. For a few years, the direction of the museum was entrusted to another protagonist of kinetic art, the Italian Getulio Alviani.

The artist's works are characterized by the creation of "penetrables", interactive sculptures made of thin, dangling tubes through which viewers can walk. These works transmit a particular perception directly to the brain, rather than limited to the eye. His art is completed only with the spectator's observation of the work, which becomes an essential element of the artistic composition.

Towards the end of his career, Jesus Rafael Soto also devoted himself to public works, creating murals for the UNESCO building in Paris in 1970 and creating kinetic structures integrated into the architecture in places such as the Renault factory in Boulogne-Billancourt and the Pompidou Center in Paris. The mobility of images and the use of light were at the heart of Soto's works, whose main objective was to actively involve the viewer in the artistic experience. His work has left an indelible mark on kinetic art and continues to inspire and fascinate artists around the world.

His death, which occurred in Paris in 2005, represented a significant loss for the international artistic community. However, his artistic legacy still lives on through his works displayed in museums and his influences manifesting themselves in the works of new generations of kinetic artists. As the years pass, the name of Jesús Rafael Soto continues to shine as one of the great masters of kinetic art of the twentieth century.