Julio Le Parc

visual politics

interview by JÉRÔME SANS
portraits and studio photography by OLIVIER AMSELLEM

All artworks courtesy of the artist and copyright Julio Le Parc / Atelier Le Parc

 

Only the most avid follower of op art and kinetic art can recall the importance of Julio Le Parc in pioneering these abstract-geometric art movements in the ’60s and ’70s. Migrating from Buenos Aires to Paris in 1958, he met artists like Soto and Vasarely, and gallery owner Denise René. Soon they made history. Le Parc’s mathematical rigor, personal palette of 14 colors, and materials (including Plexiglas) took geometric art beyond stylistic elegance, striking visual chords that conveyed sociopolitical resonance. We wanted to know what lessons the still active artist — now part of Emmanuel Perrotin’s successful team of artists — has for us today.

Martha Le Parc with Lunettes Pour Une Vision Autre [Glasses for Another…