LUIS TOMASELLO
Born in La Plata, Argentina, in 1915 to a family of Italian descent, Luis Tomasello is one of the leading figures of Latin American geometric abstraction and Kinetic Art. He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón and later at the Escuela Superior Ernesto de la Cárcova in Buenos Aires, gradually turning towards abstraction after discovering the work of Piet Mondrian during his first travels to Europe. After settling permanently in Paris in 1957, he embarked on a decisive investigation into light and colour that would define his entire career.
From 1958 onwards, he created his first reliefs and joined the circle of the legendary Galerie Denise René, the foremost centre for international Kinetic Art. Unlike many artists of his generation who explored actual movement or optical illusion, Tomasello concentrated on the luminous phenomena generated through the reflection of colour.
His most significant contribution was the creation of the celebrated Atmosphères Chromoplastiques. Composed of white reliefs incorporating small coloured surfaces that remain invisible at first glance, these works emit a coloured light that appears to float within space. Colour is no longer applied to the surface but emerges as an immaterial phenomenon generated by reflected light. This groundbreaking discovery became the hallmark of his artistic practice and earned him international recognition.
Throughout his career, Tomasello participated in major exhibitions devoted to Kinetic Art and geometric abstraction across Europe, Latin America and the United States. Significant retrospectives have been dedicated to his work at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires and the MACLA in La Plata. His works are now held in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, the Museo Reina Sofía, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and numerous other international institutions.
Recognised as one of the great masters of light, Luis Tomasello devoted more than six decades to exploring the relationships between space, colour and perception. Today, his work occupies a central place in the history of geometric abstraction and twentieth-century Kinetic Art.
