▼ Culture Blinded by the Lights “Chromosaturation” offers an immersive experience of color and light at PAMM. BY JOSE D. DURAN O ver the past few years, Miami has seen an emer- gence of immer- sive — and, let’s admit it, Instagram-friendly — art spaces such as Superblue, Artechouse, and the many pop- up Van Gogh experiences. Pérez Art Museum Miami’s (PAMM) latest installation, “Chromosatu- ration” by Carlos Cruz-Diez, re- minds viewers that immersive art experiences aren’t merely the trend du jour but were devel- oped in the 1960s, pioneered by Cruz-Diez’s experiments with color, kinetic, and optical art. Conceived by the Venezuelan artist in 1965, “Chromosatura- tion” consists of three flowing chambers made up of red, green, and blue hues, inviting guests to immerse in the artificial envi- ronment of monochromatic lights. The saturated chambers are an experiment on the view- er’s retina — submerge long enough, and your perception of the space and objects around you will alter as the color en- gulfs your every being. The installation, which opened last month, was acquired by the museum in 2020, a year after Cruz-Diez died in his adopted city of Paris at the age of 95. “He dedicated his life to researching and “HIS WHOLE GOAL WAS TO DETACH COLOR FROM FORM AND THE MATERIAL SUPPORT.” reflecting color and was very systematic,” ex- plains Iberia Pérez González, the muse- um’s Andrew W. Mel- lon Caribbean Cultural Institute co- ordinator and orga- nizer of the installation alongside former director of cu- ratorial affairs René Morales. “His whole goal was to detach color from form and the material support, and this artwork is consid- ered his accomplishment of doing that.” Although the museum’s buzziest exhibi- 12 12 tion is currently “Marisol and Warhol Take New York,” Pérez González points out that “Chromosaturation,” alongside “Penetrável Macaléia” (1978) by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiti- cica (the first to coin the term “Tropicália”), and the infamous “blue strings” of the outdoor installation “Penetrable BBL Blue” by Jesús Rafael Soto (another Venezuelan pioneer in kinetic art and a colleague of Cruz-Diez) are all exciting and coincidental moves into im- mersive or experiential showings at PAMM. “These are three artists that are very much interested in similar things, in particularly in- Photo by Rafael Lafuente, © Museo Würth/Rafael Lafuente/Bridgeman Images Carlos Cruz-Diez’s “Chromosaturation” was acquired by Pérez Art Museum Miami in 2020. volving the spectator much more, trying to challenge the basic understandings of painting and wanting to go beyond the picture frame to expand their work beyond the form,” Pérez González says. “The three of them were inter- ested in ideas around color, and somehow they all developed these ideas in a different way. So I think it’s very interesting we have these three immersive installations at the same time of three artists that were very important, working in the mid-’60s and ‘70s in similar concerns.” The acquisition of “Chromosaturation,” made possible with funds from Jorge M. Pérez, is an important addition to the muse- um’s permanent collection and ongoing com- mitment to presenting exhibitions of work from artists across Latin America, the Carib- bean, and the African diaspora. Beyond Cruz-Diez’s ability to throw color into space with “Chromosaturation,” the chambers’ colorful aesthetic has unintention- ally created a perfect aesthetic for snapping psychedelic selfies for the ‘Gram — but don’t get distracted by your phone and miss out on the visual effects that the installation offers only with total immersion and participation. “There is definitely an experiential aspect of the work that anyone can enjoy as long as they’re curious enough to spend time enough to try and see how these shifts happen instead of going in, taking a selfie, and leaving,” Pérez González adds. “Chromosaturation.” On view at Pérez Art Museum Miami, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-375-3000; pamm.org. Tickets cost $16.
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