Biography
Jesus Rafael Soto

One of the most important kinetic artists of the 20th century, Jesús Rafael Soto began his artistic career at a very young age, painting posters for movie theaters in his hometown of Ciudad Bolívar. In 1942, he received a scholarship to study art and art history at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Artes Aplicadas de Caracas, where he met fellow students Carlos Cruz-Diez, Mercedes Pardo, Omar Carreño, and Alejandro Otero. During these studies, he began making paintings inflected with Cubism.

 

Influenced by serialism in modern music, Soto embarked upon his “serial works” in 1952. In an interview conducted by Hans Ulrich Obrist in 2006, Soto recalled the importance of music to his early production. His interest in music was also as a musician; for more than a decade, Soto earned his living by playing guitar at bars.

 

Soto was also influenced by the work of artists Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, especially in their treatment of geometry and abstraction. Wassily Kandinsky’s text Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1912) was an important resource for the young artist as he began making works which suggested movement and instability. In 1947, when László Moholy-Nagy’s book Vision in Motion was published, Soto found another resource to support his ideas about movement and the spectator. By the 1960s, he was immersed in projects in which he used almost no color but instead explored the vibrations created by line and its dematerialization through the inclusion of hanging elements. He also began exploring the idea of haptic art: making works to be touched by the viewer.

 

Soto’s works have been shown in many important solo exhibitions, including Soto dans le collection du Musée, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2013); Peintures Cinétiques de Soto, Galerie Aujourd’hui, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium (1957); Soto. The Fourth Dimension, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain (2019); Jesús Rafael Soto, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2000); Soto, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France (1969); Soto – une Rétrospective, Musée Soulages, Rodez, France (2015); Soto – Cuarenta Años de Creación, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas (MACC), Venezuela (1983); Jesús Rafael Soto, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1998); Visión en Movimiento, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico (2005); Soto: Houston Penetrable, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Texas, USA (2014); and Soto: A Retrospective Exhibition, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, New York, USA (1974).

 

Soto’s works are represented in several major collections including Fundación ARCO, Madrid, Spain; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA; Kröller-Müller Museum (KMM), Otterlo, The Netherlands; Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), California, USA; Musée National d’Art Moderne - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium; Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto, Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Texas, USA; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, New York, USA; National Gallery of Victoria (NCV), Melbourne, Australia; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), Seoul, South Korea; Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, New York, USA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, New York, USA; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Tate Modern, London, England, UK.

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