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Home , Documenta III, Francisco Sobrino, Gerhard von Graevenitz, Getulio Alviani, Grazia Varisco, Heinz Mack

Galerie The German-born theorist Denise René and psychologist of percep- tion Rudolf Arnheim publishes Denise René (1913-2012) was and Visual : a central figure in the kinetic Soto makes his first A Psychology of the Creative and optical art movements, silkscreen prints on Eye, in which he uses psychol- and her gallery in layers of Plexiglas ogy to reach a better under- standing of art. became a rallying point for In Paris the Hungarian artist Nicolas plates which have a dynamic optical effect the artists. René wanted to Schöffer presents a series of works, where The Swiss artist when one moves in promote the new art and the the viewer can manually make parts of the presents reliefs at Galerie front of them. work rotate. Arnaud in Paris in a series techniques that had either Hungarian creates his first Photogra- titled Méta-Malevich. The been sidelined during World Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl The Israeli artist Yaacov phisme works and exhibits them at Galerie Denise René. works consist of geometrical War II or that represented Villanueva incorporates decorations by Agam exhibits his first They consist of black-and-white patterns on acrylic plates forms that move on the black among others , Vasarely kinetic works in Paris, a new chapter for art. In one laid over another which seem to vibrate and change background with the aid of and Soto at the new university in Caracas. as well as reliefs whose 1944 she opened her first with the movements of the viewer in front of the work. an electric motor. Shown here is Vasarely’s ceramic wall surfaces are covered exhibition of works by Victor The American psychologist James with a variety of geo- Hommage à Malevich (1954). Vasarely, and in succeed- J. Gibson publishes the book The Percep- metrical forms. tion of the Visible World, with his account ing years she presented a The first mobile reliefs Tinguely,61 x 50 20 cm. Museum of how our image of the world is formed number of exhibitions that by the Belgian artist by visual input. Jean Tinguely: Méta-Malevich , 1954 showed developments in Pol Bury are exhib- concrete and geometric art. The Venezuelan artist Jesús Rafael Soto ited in . Since moves to Paris and makes his first geo- 1959, Bury, inspired by René was internationally metrical artworks using optical effects. Alexander Calder, has oriented and was involved With inspiration from musique concrète, worked his way from in the mounting of exhibi- he continues working over the next few towards three- tions in both South America years with a focus on progression, dimensional works and Scandinavia, including repetition and vibration. Optical and Optical and kinetic focusing on motion. the exhibition Clear Form at Charlottenborg, Copenha- gen, 1951. Timeline 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 In 1955 Denise René opened the exhibition Le Mouvement, Colour TV sets make their seen today as the earliest debut on the American market. manifestation of the kinetic Danish viewers, meanwhile, will and optical movements. not be able to experience colour ’s Rotore- TV until 1968. liefs and Alexander Calder’s Context The European Organization for The barcode is patented by Joseph Woodland mobiles were shown along- Nuclear Research CERN (Con- and Bernard “Bob” Silver in the US. The structure of the side works by Victor Vasarely seil Européen pour la Recherche DNA molecule is map­ and artists who were less The first jet airliners are introduced on routes ped by two molecular Nucléaire) is established in between Britain and South Africa. well known at the time such biologists, American Geneva, . as Jean Tinguely, Jesús The hydrogen bomb, the world’s first thermo- James Watson and Rafael Soto, nuclear weapon, is tested for the first time by British Francis Crick, the US. By the next year the Soviet Union is an epochal event in and Pol Bury, as well as making weapons of the same type. the understanding of Danish Robert Jacobsen. The leading figure in Abstract Expres- human biology. René was also a consultant sionism, , photographed The composer John Cage’s soundless on the pioneering exhibi- a year after the famous article in Life composition 4’33” premieres in Woodstock, Joseph Stalin, the leader magazine: “Is he the greatest living New York. of the Soviet Union, dies, tion The Responsive Eye painter in the United States?” and there is a brief hope at MoMA, New York, 1965. that the Cold War will Over the next few years she War in the Korean Peninsula, which was Several science-fiction films premiere, be de-escalated. opened galleries in New York divided after World War II into two occu- including The Day the Earth Stood Still. pied zones: a Soviet one in the north and and Düsseldorf to accom- an American one in the south. In 1953 The author J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher modate the growing interest the parties sign an armistice and the in the Rye is published in the US. With its in optical and kinetic art. The Compiled by country is divided in two. account of a teenager’s angst and alienation gallery in Paris still exists it becomes an instant classic. Mia Tine Bowden Christiansen, Production of the Volkswagen Type 2 today. Signe Marie Ebbe Jacobsen Camper begins in . Denise René with Yaacov Agam's work Dibouk, 1954 and Kristian Handberg

82 83 Along with the Swiss artist , , Bury, Tinguely and the Gruppo T. From left: Gianni Colombo, At the exhibition Mouvement in Le Corbusier’s Cité artists Mack, Piene and Uecker organize the exhibition Vision in Motion / Motion in Giovanni Anceschi, , Davide Boriani and Gabriele Devecchi, 1964 Radieuse in Marseilles, Nicolas Schöffer presents the Vision in Antwerp. Later Mack and Piene mount the exhibition Dynamo 1 in Wiesbaden Gruppo N. From left: Toni Costa, Ennio The exhibition Le Mouvement opens at and in that connection come into contact with the Italian artist . The installation CYSP I (left), his first independently moving Chiggio, Manfredo Massironi, Edoardo same year Manzoni opens Galleria Azimuth in and launches the periodical of Galerie Denise René in Paris. The exhibi- . Shown together with the French choreog- Schöffer’s mobile are described Landi and Alberto Biasi the same name, which functions as an international platform where artists associated tion is organized by Vasarely, Pontus rapher Maurice Béjart’s dancers, it combines abstract as “mobile ” by the his- : Copy after Le Pont de with the kinetic can present works and exchange ideas. Courbevoie by , 1959 Hultén and Denise René. In connection kinetic sculpture with bodily motion. torian Guy Habasque. Schöffer himself calls to this, Vasarely publishes his Yellow Oil on canvas, 71.1 x 91.1 cm The exhibition This is Tomorrow opens at Whitechapel­ them “luminodynamic sculptures.” The German artist begins his investigation of the vibration © Bridget Riley 2015. All rights reserved, Manifesto, in which he introduces the Art Gallery in London. One of its themes, “Classical that occurs in the eye when one looks at repeated geometrical forms. courtesy Karsten Schubert, London principles behind optical and kinetic art. The group Equipo 57 is founded in Paris. Optical Illusions Developed by Albers and Duchamp” At the same time they publish a manifesto Günther Uecker invites The artist group Gruppo T (left) is established in Milan and Gruppo N (centre) adresses the optical in art. The exhibition, which deals to provide a collective basis for their indi- the viewer to participate in , . with aspects of popular culture, is also considered one of vidual works. and rotate the work Light the first exhibitions of . The British artist Richard Globe, the surface of The British artist Bridget Riley paints Copy after Le Pont de Courbevoie by Georges Hamilton’s collage Just What Is It that Makes Today’s The ZERO group is founded in Düsseldorf. which is covered in nails. Seurat (right). Riley uses Seurat’s 1886-87 work in an exploration of the significance of colour in perception. The dotted, shimmering surfaces of Seurat’s pointillistic Homes So Different, So Appealing? is created as a poster ZERO. From left: , Heinz Mack finishes his for the exhibition (right). and Günther Uecker, 1962 brushstrokes are transformed by Riley in subsequent years into abstract

Courtesy Whitechapel Gallery Archive firstLight-Reliefs and geometrical forms. Light-Dynamos.

The Argentinean artist moves to Paris, where he makes the acquaintance of the movement around Galerie Denise René. Prior to this he has seen an exhibition of Vasarely at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in . 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

The Americans William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain are awarded The Space Age begins in earnest with the launch by the the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention Soviet Union of the satellite Sputnik. Later in the year this of the transistor. This small component for is followed by Sputnik 2, which for the first time sends a The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum with amplifying electronic signals becomes the living being into space – though Laika the space dog (left) Expo 58, held in Brussels, is the first World Fair after World War II. With the Atomium building its iconic spiral form design by Frank Lloyd basis for modern information technology. does not survive the mission. as its landmark, it exhibits the new technology at an international event (left). Wright opens in New York. Premiere of Billy Wilder’s film The Seven The revolt of the Hungarian people against At the popular amusement park Disneyland, the Mon- Premiere of Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Vertigo. The films’ visuals illustrate the main The American trumpeter Miles Davis releases Year Itch featuring the iconic scene of Soviet-dominated communism is put down santo Chemical Company’s House of the Future opens, character’s vertigo and visual disturbances. The title sequence and poster are designed by the the album Kind of Blue, often cited as the best Marilyn Monroe in a white dress. brutally by a Soviet invasion force. featuring a complete interior in and a futuristic American graphic designer Saul Bass and the animator John Whitney, who later becomes one jazz album ever. Jazz enjoys great popularity, The Bandung Conference, held in Great Britain and ’s attempt to space-age design in the spirit of the age (right). of the inventors of computer graphics (centre). especially as the favourite genre of students Indonesia, is the first international wrest the Suez Canal away from President and culturally oriented young people. The European Economic Community (EEC) is established The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is founded in Great Britain, its characteristic logo summit for former colonies in Asia and Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt triggers the by the Treaty of . The Community, which Denmark designed by Gerald Holtom (right). The movement achieves great cultural significance, among Africa. The period is typified by the Suez Crisis. After pressure from the US, joins in 1972, later becomes the present-day EU. other ways by organizing “ban the bomb” marches over the next years, including in Denmark. The phasing out of the European empires the Soviet Union and the UN the troops logo later becomes widespread as the “Peace Symbol.” and a global power struggle between are withdrawn, which is regarded as a The typeface Helvetica, originally called Neue Haas the parties to the Cold War. humiliating defeat for the old colonial Grotesk (used in this Louisiana Revy), is designed The Danish toy manufacturer Lego puts its first plastic bricks on the market. In 1961, Lego is powers. by Max Miedinger. successfully introduced on the American market.

The Louisiana Museum opens on 14 August.

84 85 The artist group GRAV exhibits at the 2nd Paris Biennial and publishes a A new look Gruppo T opens the exhibition Miriorama 1 in folder entitled Assez de mystifications (No More Mystifications), underlining that at the world Milan, the first of 12 exhibitions shown in various they are fighting for an art for everyone. The same year the group decides GRAV exhibitions are organized under the title L’Instabilité in France, places over the next two years. They publish a to reject painting and instead explore new sculptural possibilities and media, Italy, Brazil and the US. For these, Le Parc produces his first spatial Technology and science manifesto for the occasion. including electric light. installations with light, while Morellet transfers his two-dimensional played crucial roles in the Trames works to three-dimensional spaces. conceptual world in this This year “kinetic art” becomes an established The exhibition Nove Tendencije (New Tendencies), held in , gathers concept on the art scene through publications international artists who work with the physical involvement of the viewer and The first meeting of the group Nouvelle Tendance is held at GRAV’s period. Mankind ventured and exhibitions dedicated to the movement. the creation of optical effects through motion. Five of these exhibitions take studio in Paris. out into space and down The French artist François Morellet has his first place up until 1973. Mack, Piene and Uecker present their first spatial installation, to the microperspective of the DNA molecule, and the solo exhibition abroad, at Galerie Aujourd’hui in The exhibition Movement in Art opens at the Louisiana (centre). Previously Lichtraum, at the Nul exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum (left). Brussels. The German-born artist advances in research shown at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and at in The exhibition Arte programmata: Arte cinetica, opere moltiplicate, op- publishes the quickly impacted everyday The artist group Nul-Groep is founded in Holland. Stockholm (exhibition catalogue left), it is considered a breakthrough for the era aperta (Programmed Art: Kinetic Art, Multiplied Works, Open Work) book Interaction of Color, in optical and kinetic movements. After seeing the exhibition in Amsterdam, the is shown in Milan in the showroom of the typewriter company Olivetti life with synthetic materi- The French artist group GRAV is founded. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, May 1962. Archive Gianni Colombo which he describes his paint- German artist Hans Richter declares that “movement has become a movement.” and afterwards in London, Washington, New York and Düsseldorf. als, contraceptive pills and GRAV. From left: Julio Le Parc, Joël Stein, Hector Garcia Rossi, erly and sculptural investiga- Bridget Riley (right) begins painting works exclusively in . It features works by, among others, GRAV, Gruppo N, Gruppo T and transistor radios. World , François Morellet and Yvaral, 1968 Exhibition catalogue Arte programmata . Showroom Olivetti, tions of the effects of colour. Only at the end of the 1960s does she reintroduce colour into her paintings. Enzo Mari. In the exhibition catalogue (right), the Italian philosopher War II formed a clear mark

London, c. 1965 Bridget Riley working on Descending , Umberto Eco introduces the principles behind kinetic art. In connection with the 3rd between the world of yes- Paris Biennial GRAV makes terday and its old empires, the first of its Labyrinthe traditions and values. Now installations at the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville people lived in the “jet de Paris. age,” the “nuclear age” or the “space age.” The time Bridget Riley creates her only sculptural installation, demanded, in the words of Continuum, a black-and- British Prime Minister Har- white panel stretched over old Wilson from 1964, that a spiral structure that the a new Britain had to be viewer can walk into. “forged in the white heat of the scientific revolution” – a message that reso- nated in the rest of the 1960 1961 1962 1963 world. The world was viewed as a machine that Courtesy Lynn Gamwell Louisiana of Museum Andy Warhol: Close Cover before Striking , 1962. The French author Alain could constantly be opti- Robbe-Grillet publishes Pour mized through the inter- un Nouveau Roman (For a New Novel), a poetics for a new vention of man. “Make literature based on raw de- good times better” read a scriptions of the world. Social Democrat election poster from the Danish The Beatles enjoy huge suc- cess, as “Beatlemania” breaks general election in 1960, out among teens, first in showing a family in front Britain, then over most of of its new TV set. The first TV-broadcast presidential debate in the US (left) the world. can be seen as an between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy, who wins the American President John F. expression of the age’s election by a narrow margin. The Russian Yuri Gagarin (left) becomes the first man in space with the launch of the Vostok spacecraft on 12 April, orbiting the earth and Kennedy is assassinated in new look at the world: Dallas, Texas. The presumed The art movement Nouveau réalisme is established by, among landing successfully. As a response President Kennedy announces insistent, precise and others, the French and the French art- assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, that before the end of the 1960s the USA will send a man safely to progressive, removed from ist Yves Klein. Instead of cultivating a personal idiom the group's the moon. is shot two days later. The event can be seen on TV, traditions, recondite sym- members experiment with techniques that can more directly Andy Warhol creates Close Cover before Striking, Camp- Raymond Queneau releases Cent mille milliards de poèmes (right), which 90 percent of American bolism or references to represent modernity. An example is Klein’s performance Anthro- bell’s Soup Cans and the silkscreen Marilyn Diptych shortly which he calls “a machine to produce poems”: 10 sonnets of 14 lines households have. pométrie de l'Époque bleue (Anthropometry in the Blue Period) after the death of Marilyn Monroe. the past. It was the here at the Galerie Internationale d’Art Contemporain, Paris (right), each, cut into strips that can be combined in one hundred thousand The periodical Scientific and now, on the road to where nude models are rolled in paint and their bodies are used billion different ways. The year before, Queneau and François Le The Soviet Union’s attempt to set up nuclear missiles in American features Op Art on the future, an attack on to make imprints on a canvas. Lionnais founded the experimental group Oulipo (Ouvroir de littérature its ally Fidel Castro’s Cuba triggers the Cuba Missile Crisis the cover (see p. 28). In this potentielle/workshop of potential literature), consisting of writers and between American and Soviet leaders, bringing the world to the eye and a call to keep period several scientific The first laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission mathematicians, working with rules of writing. the brink of nuclear war. up at a time when much of Radiation) is presented by Theodore H. Maiman at the periodicals discuss theories was in a process of The Wall is built and the so-called Iron Curtain dividing The American-European satellite Telstar is sent into orbit of and the Hughes Research Laboratories in the US. reconstruction. Europe is thus finally closed. around the earth and is the first communications satellite to visual experience of motion. transmit TV signals and telephone calls across the Atlantic.

86 87 The 32nd Biennale is held and many of the kinetic artists are Le Parc presents his Lunettes pour une vision autre (Glasses to A number of scholarly books dealing with the psychology of the perception of move- represented, including Bury, Gruppo N, Gruppo T, Le Parc and Soto, who Another Vision) (see p. 70) at the Contemporaries Gallery in New York. ment are published, including Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing by the British Artist groups wins the David Bright Prize for Painting. The glasses give the visitors a series of visual disturbances. neuropsychologist Richard L. Gregory. In the wake of the group exhibition Le Mouvement

The exhibition Propositions visuelles du mouvement Nouvelle Tendance opens The exhibition Nul 1965, organized by Willem Sandberg, opens at The 1966 has much optical and kinetic art, by, among others, Soto at Galerie Denise René in Paris, 1955, a number at the Musée des Décoratifs in Paris. For the occasion Colombo creates the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, bringing together artists from and Le Parc. Le Parc, who represents Argentina, also wins the prize for painting of artist groups dedicated to kinetic and optical his first Ambiente abitabile, which resembles this exhibition’s Spazio Elastico avant-garde movements all over the world. for works produced with the group GRAV. art emerged. In Paris, the group Equipo 57 was (see p. 78). founded in 1957 by the Spanish artists Juan Under the curatorship of Harald Szeemann, Kunsthalle in Several exhibitions dealing with light and motion are held in the US and Europe, III is held in , where an entire section is dedicated to light Switzerland organizes an exhibition entitled Licht und Bewegung/Lumi- including Kunst Licht Kunst at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and later in Boston Cuenca, José Duarte, Ángel Duarte, Agustín and motion featuring, among others, GRAV, Soto, Tinguely and ZERO. ère et Mouvement/Luce e Movimento/Light and Movement: Kinetische and London. The exhibition is the first to deal specifically with light as an artistic me- Ibarrola and Juan Serrano. Best known was the Kunst. Szeemann describes it as a living exhibition, where both children dium. A number of individual artists, as well as the groups Gruppo T, Equipo 57, ZERO group GRAV (Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel), The artists in Gruppo N separate as a result of disagreements about rules and adults are invited to play with art. and GRAV, are represented. Later that year both Equipo 57 and ZERO disband. for the group’s collaboration. formed in 1960 by Hugo Demarco, Héctor García Gruppo T end their collective collaboration. GRAV organizes Une journée dans la rue (A day in the Street) (below) in Paris where Miranda, Horacio Garcia Rossi, Julio Le Parc, Vera The term “Op Art” is coined in an article in Time Magazine with the heading passers-by are invited to interact with kinetic works – for example by using distorting Molnár, François Morellet, Sergio Moyano, Simone “Op Art: Pictures that Attack the Eye” (see p. 8). The phrase subsequently The exhibition The Responsive Eye opens at MoMA in New York glasses or walking on uneven blocks of . The artists describe the event as becomes a catch-all term for paintings that work with optical effects. and is afterwards shown in several American cities. The exhibition Servanes, Francisco Sobrino, Joël Stein and Yvaral organized puncturings of public space. gathers more than a hundred international artists and consolidates (Jean-Pierre Vasarely). The exhibition Le Mouvement 2, the successor to Denise René’s pacesetting the importance of the Op Art movement in the US. 1955 exhibition Le Mouvement, opens at Galerie Denise René. In Germany, in 1957, Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, Installation view of The Responsive Eye 1965 , MoMA, later joined by Günther Uecker, formed the artists’ Gruppo MID is founded in Milan. collective ZERO with the wish for a new beginning – a ground zero – for art. Between 1958 and 1961, ZERO published three editions of the periodical with the same name. The group had many mem- bers from different countries and became an inspiration to, among others, the Dutch Nul-groep,

Gruppo MID. From left: founded by Jan Schoonhoven, Armando, Jan Alberto Marangoni, Gianfranco Henderikse, Herman de Vries and Henk Peeters. Laminarca, Alfonso Grassi and Antonio Barrese, 1966. Artists from Italy also gathered round kinetic art Courtesy Antonio Barrese and Milan, in particular, was a nodal point. Gruppo T was formed there in 1959 by Giovanni Anceschi, Davide Boriani, Gianni Colombo, Gabriele Devecchi 1964 1965 1966 and Grazia Varisco. The T stands for “tempo” and refers to the group’s work with time as a variable factor in the experience of the artwork. Life, vol. 58, no. 15, 16 April, 1965 Courtesy Also in 1959, Gruppo N was formed in Padua by Alberto Biasi, Ennio Chiggio, Toni Costa, Edoardo Landi and Manfredo Massironi. They exhibited anonymously, and many of the collective collaborations were oriented towards literature, industrial design, architecture, music and science. Gruppo MID (Movimento Immagine Dimensione) was founded in Milan in 1964 by Antonio Barrese, Alberto Marangoni, Gianfranco Laminarca and Alfonso Grassi. MID worked with the collective The scandal-ridden American psychologist as the bearing element and did not sign works Timothy Leary releases a record, where he The Canadian philosopher and communica- advocates for the use of psychedelic drugs individually, only with the name of the group. tion theorist Marshall McLuhan states that as therapy (left). The fashion magazine Vogue puts Op Art on the cover (see p. 35). The international grouping Nouvelle Tendance “the medium is the message,” i.e. the media There are several articles on the new Op Art fashion this year, including The TV series Star Trek (right) airs for the first was formed in 1962 after the members of in which we communicate are messages “It’s OP from Toe to Top” in Life magazine (left). time in the US. Science-fiction series are popular Gruppo N, Gruppo T, ZERO and GRAV met at the in themselves. Three years later his book at the time and often use design features typical The Medium is the Massage is published – The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama creates her first mirror installation, Infinity exhibition Nove Tendencije in Zagreb (1961). Later, of the period, including Op Art. The same goes “Massage” is said to be a typo. Mirror Room – Phalli’s Field in New York (right). She often par­ticipates in exhibi- Gruppo MID also became part of the group. It was for the British series The Avengers (1961-69) tions with artists from the European avant-garde, including the ZERO movement. characteristic of many of the artists that they were The discovery of cosmic background radiation and Doctor Who (1963-). associated with several groupings, and that the becomes important for the Big Bang theory. The US posts the first marines to Vietnam. The following year 250,000 In China, Chairman Mao launches the Cultural American soldiers are in action. collective work was given greater emphasis than Martin Luther King is awarded the Nobel Revolution to lead China definitively out of the the individual production. Peace Prize for his work for the rights of feudal and bourgeois social order and at the African-Americans – one of the most hotly same time stamp out all tendencies towards contested issues in the US at the time. a new capitalism in the country. The Cultural King is assassinated in 1968. Revolution becomes extremely violent. © Courtesy Atelier Cruz-Diez Paris

88 89 Inter- GRAV disbands. Prior to this a retrospective exhibition is shown at Pop culture Museum am Ostwall in Dortmund with the title Participation, about their The Irish art historian Cyril Barrett national In the course of the 1950s eight years of collaboration. publishes the book Op Art on among impact other subjects Riley’s and Vasarely’s and 1960s, popular and At the 34th Venice Biennale a section is dedicated to art that is The kinetic and use of visual mechanisms. Barrett youth culture arise as a new The exhibition Lumière et optically stimulating, featuring among others, Josef Albers, Lucio emphasizes that the effect of Op Art phenomenon in society. The optical movements mouvement: art cinétique à Fontana, Le Parc and Soto. Prizes are awarded to Schöffer and Riley, should not be understood as abstract consumer society facilitated were characterized Paris opens at Musée d’Art who is the first woman to win a prize at the biennale. Colombo wins optical stimulus but as direct physical by wide international moderne de la Ville de Paris, the prize for the work Spazio Elastico (1967) (left). exchanges of a culture that, in reaction. Barrett regards Op Art as organized by the Czech- the words of the British artist diffusion. While At Documenta IV in Kassel almost half the invited artists are from the a more democratic artform – experi- French cultural theorist Frank Richard Hamilton about Pop Paris, and especially optical-kinetic movement. The Swiss artist Christian Megert creates The Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez creates ence-based rather than theoretical. Popper. The same year he Galerie Denise René, his Spiegelraum there (right). As early as 1961 he published a manifesto Labyrinthe de Chromosaturation at the festival Art Art, was “popular, transient, publishes Naissance de l’art in connection with a solo exhibition at Galerie Köpcke in Copenhagen, dans la Rue (Art in the Street) on Boulevard Saint- expendable, low-cost, mass- became the rallying cinétique: l’image du mouve- presenting the idea behind this new type of space. A number of Germaine, Paris, where one is invited to walk though produced, young, witty, sexy, point for a number ment dans les arts plastiques works from Documenta were later shown at Louisiana. different coloured spaces to experience the inten- of the artists, there depuis 1860 (Origins and gimmicky, glamorous and Big sity of the colour. were similar artistic Development of Kinetic Art), Business.” developments all over based on his doctoral disser- More people across social tation, in which he conducts Europe as well as in classes and geographical a scholarly and aesthetic South America, the localities now had the classification of kinetics and US and the Soviet investigates the emergence opportunity to consume Union. Experiments of both virtual and real move- culture. Special attention with perception ment in art. was paid to young people

and motion thus The exhibition Optical and as consumers. “Teenager” unfolded in many Kinetic Art opens at the Tate was a new concept from the different cultural and Gallery in London, featuring, 1940s, and in 1959 a young political contexts. among others, Le Parc, Mack, person had twice as much The focus was on Riley, Soto, Uecker, Vasarely money as somebody of the and his son Yvaral. Spazio Elastico, 1967. Galleria L’Attico, Rome, 1968. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Colombo, Milan creating works that same age in 1939. The market were accessible and quickly adapted to the young comprehensible to consumer, who was both everyone, and that active and demanding. Young were not tied to any 1967 1968 1969 1970 people also became a cultural

particular place or Courtesy Eduardo Terrazas © Nasa entity, rebelling against the historical situation. establishment. Rock music, A general interna- film and fashion characterized tionalization of the the time – from “Swinging art world after World London” over San Francisco’s War II was expressed, counterculture to TV and radio among other ways, in the homes. in art movements The relationship between art forming across and pop culture ranged from national borders. It enthusiasm to mobilization became easier to The World Fair Expo 67 in Montréal, against “the culture industry.” travel, and the devel- Canada, is a popular celebration of the The American director Stanley Kubrick’s ambitious space Robert Smithson creates Spiral Jetty off the Op Art had a particularly opment of the mass technology and culture of the time in a epic 2001: A Space Odyssey premieres (left). The film experi- coast of the Great Salt Lake, Utah. It is consid- complex relationship with media made it easier confident modern design. The architect ments with optical effects and thematizes the relationship ered one of the most prominent in examples the pop culture of the time, Buckminster Fuller’s pavilion becomes between mankind and technology, and human existence the genre. to be more glob- which happily embraced “Op” an iconic symbol of the event. in the space age. ally oriented. Many At Kent State University in Ohio, US, four patterns as a fashionable groupings of artists The first heart transplant is performed in Mexico hosts the Olympic Games. The graphic look of the students are shot dead. Along with the as- signal. Some of the artists South Africa by the surgeon Christiaan published magazines, event is inspired by traditional Mexican art as well as the Op Art sassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and were concerned about this Barnard. movement of the time (right). Design by Eduardo Terrazas and the continuing Vietnam War, this increases programmes and appropriation, which they Lance Wyman in 1967. mistrust of the American authorities. The hallucinogenic drug LSD (lysergic manifestos to Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first feared would devalue their art acid diethylamide), with which the Ameri- Riots by students and workers in Paris in May, known as the inform the wider men on the moon with the American Apollo 11 mission (top). and turn it into a short-lived can intelligence service has experimented Student Revolt, inspire similar events at a large number of world of their atti- fashion. Others, in contrast, in the 1950s, is prohibited by the American universities, across the Western world. Around 400,000 young people gather for the Woodstock tudes and works. authorities after widespread use among festival in New York State, billed as “An Aquarian Exposi-­ saw popular culture as a way The Prague Spring, the Czechoslovakian First Secretary young people. Meanwhile, the psychedelic tion: 3 Days of Peace & Music” and featuring names like of reaching a wider public. Alexander Dubček’s attempt to reform the country’s communist style and the hippie culture exploded in Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Band and Crosby, Stills, regime, is brutally put down by the Soviet Union. “the Summer of Love.” Nash & Young (bottom).

90 91 The catalogue is published on the occasion moderner kunst stiftung ludwig wien: 50 top, 66 op art and kinetic art of the exhibition: topright; Museum moderner kunst stiftung ludwig wien, 1950-1970 Leihgabe der Arthotek des Bundes: 41 bottomh, 62 Eye Attack bottom, left; Giorgio Pizzagalli: 78, 79; Scanpix / Album © Louisiana Op Art and kinetic art 1950-1970 / 20th Century Fox: 33 top, right; Martin Schmüdderich: and the contributors 4 February – 5 June 2016 41 toph, 48 toph, 50n, 66 top, left; Courtesy Karsten Edited by Lærke Rydal Jørgensen, Exhibition Curators: Tine Colstrup Schubert: 22-25, 33 top, left; Peter Schälchli: 45, 48 Michael Juul Holm, Tine Colstrup and Kirsten Degel and Kirsten Degel topv, 49; Fabrice Seixas: 74; Joël Stein: 29 m.; John Graphic Design: Michael Jensen Curatorial Assistants: Mia Tine Bowden Tromp: 26; VAF Stiftung: 36 bottom, 37, 39, 51, 65 Picture Editor: Kim Hansen Christiansen and Signe Marie Ebbe Jacobsen top+bottom right, 66 bottom, left+right, 67; Verner Translations: Glen Garner (Tine Colstrup, interviews Thanks to postdoc Kristian Handberg Panton Design: 32 , left; J & M Zweerts Fotografie: with Olafur Eliasson, Julie Riis Andersen), Charles for contributing to the timeline 62 bottom right Penwarden (Matthieu Poirier), AdHoc Translations Exhibition Coordinator: Maria Therming Photo / timeline (chronological): (interview med Carlos Cruz-Diez), James Manley Exhibition Architect: Gudrun Krabbe All Over Press / Corbis / Sygma / Rudolph Burckhardt: (Foreword, Timeline) Graphic Design: Marie d’Origny Lübecker 82 bottom1; Scanpix / Album / 20th Century Fox: 82 Cover: Bridget Riley: Blaze 4, 1964. Conservator / Exhibition Producer: bottom2; Christian Baur: 83 top2; Paul Fleet / Colourbox: Emulsion on hardboard, 94.6 x 94.6 cm Jesper Lund Madsen 83 bottom2; Galerie Denise René, Paris: 83 bottom3, 84 © Bridget Riley 2016. All rights reserved, top3; Whitechapel Gallery: 84 top4; Museum Kunst­ courtesy Karsten Schubert, London Works by © , Giovanni Anceschi, palast, Düsseldorf / AFORK (Archiv künstlerischer Printed by Rosendahls Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz, , Fotografie der rheinischen Kunstszene) / © Raoul van ISBN 978-87-92877-57-4 Alberto Biasi, Davide Boriani, Martha Boto, Hartmut den Boom: 84 top5; Scanpix / AP / Matty Zimmerman: Printed in Denmark 2016 Böhm, Gianni Colombo, Toni Costa, Carlos Cruz-Diez, 84 bottom 1; Scanpix / Mauri Vuorinen: 84 bottom2; , Gabriele Devecchi, Angel Duarte, Wojciech www.louisiana.dk Scanpix / AFP: 84 bottom3; All Over Press / Corbis: 84 Fangor, Gerhard von Graevenitz, Gruppo MID, Edoardo bottom4; Scanpix / Willy Lund: 85 bottom1; Scanpix / Landi, Wolfgang Ludwig, Adolf Luther, Heinz Mack, Enzo Album / Paramount Pictures: 85 bottom2; Archivio Ennio Mari, Almir Mavignier, Edwin Mieczkowski, François Ludovico Chiggio: 85 top2; Courtesy Karsten Schubert: Morellet, Julio Le Parc, Helga Philipp, Bridget Riley, Jan 85 top3; Robert E. Mates©SRGF,NY: 85 bottom4; Schoonhoven, Nicolas Schöffer, Joël Stein, Jesús Rafael Courtesy François Morellet: 86 top1., 89 top2; Jørn Soto, Luis Tomasello, Günther Uecker, Grazia Varisco, Freddie: 86 top3; John Minshull: 86 top4; All Over Press Victor Vasarely, Ludwig Wilding, Ryszard Winiarski, / Corbis: 86 bottom1; Scala Archives, / Charles Jean-Pierre Yvaral / copydanbilleder.dk 2016 Wilp: 86 bottom2; All Over Press / Corbis / Bettmann: 86 Photo: bottom3; Chris Focht: 86 bottom4; Manfred Tischer: 87 Atelier Cruz-Diez: 80, 81; Atelier Heinz Mack / VG top1; Corriere della Sera: 88 top1; Scala Archives, Bild-Kunst: 62 bottom, 65 top left; British Council Florence: 88 top2; Kusama Studio Inc.: 88 bottom3; Collection: 27; Eduardo Calderón: 13, 14, 16, 21; Centre Horacio Garcia Rossi, Paris: 89 top1; Scanpix / Album / Pompidou RMN-GP Photo Agentur / Philippe Migeat / ParamountTV: 89 bottom2; Atelier Cruz-Diez: 89 ADAGP: 18, 19, 43, 44, 63; Erin Dodson: 32 right; Adrian bottom3, 91 top1; Courtesy Archivio Gianni Colombo, Fritschi: 70, 76, 77; Kunsthandel Wolfgang Werner, Milano: 90 top1; Carl Eberth / © documenta Archiv: 90 Bremen-Berlin: 41 top left; Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen: top2; All Over Press / Corbis / Bettmann: 90 bottom1; 36 top; Moderna Museet / Prallan Allsten: 30 top, right; Scanpix / Ronald Grant Archive / Mary Evans: 90 Musée d’Art Moderne / Roger Viollet: 48 bottom; Musée bottom2; Courtesy Eduardo Terrazas: 90 bottom3; d’Art Moderne / Roger Viollet / Philippe Joffre: 65 NASA / Neil Armstrong: 91 bottom1; All Over Press / bottom left; Musée de Grenoble: 40; Museum of Modern Corbis / Henry Diltz: 91 bottom2; Scanpix / The New Art, New York / Scala Archives, Florence: 7; Museum York Times: 91 bottom3

The exhibition is sponsored by: Louisianas Main Corporate Partners: Knud Højgaards Fond

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