Carlos Cruz-Diez is arguably one of Venezuela’s most respected artists, achieving international renown early in his career. An early innovator of Kinetic Art in 1960s Paris and a key member of Groupe de Recherche d’Art Visuel (GRAV), his work challenges viewers to appreciate color as “a reality which acts on the human being with the same intensity as cold, heat, or sound.” His ground-breaking series of paintings, which he called Physichromies, are considered pivitol early works in the global movements of Op and Kinetic Art. The result of Cruz-Diez’s rigorous, scientific study of the physical perception of color, they are constructed of multicolored cardboard or Plexiglas strips, making appear to vibrate as the viewer moves past them. His later works expanded beyond paintings, to include site-specific and immersive installations that use vibrant optical effects.