Modern

Penetrable

This work is currently installed at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.
Description of artwork:
Penetrable (1990) is an interactive sculpture created by Jesús Rafael Soto, a prominent Venezuelan artist known for his involvement in the kinetic and op art movement. Composed of suspended yellow plastic tubes arranged within a steel grid, the structure beckons individuals to engage with it. As viewers navigate through the dense curtain of tubes, they are enveloped and seemingly absorbed into the artwork, blurring the boundaries between themselves and the piece.

In their contribution to the catalogue for the exhibition "The Geometry of Hope," art historian Luis Pérez Oramas states:
The Pen­etrable is the locus in which Soto both synthesized and condensed the contra­dictions and utopias implicit in his artistic project. As an optical work seen from a dis­tance, the Penetrable functions as a kind of dematerialization machine, absorbing into the extraordinary transparency of its inte­rior the bodies that penetrate it. As a tactile work experienced physically, the Penetrable functions in the manner of a coarse-textured, visual-saturation machine as viewers’ bod­ies penetrate its skein of plastic lines and become immersed in its opaque environment. Soto said that at one point he had dreamed of a work that could absorb the entire planet—a utopian, humanistic vision that, in order to be realized, would require the impossible supposition of an ideal viewing point beyond the planet.

In 2011, the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) published the book Jesús Soto in conversation with Ariel Jiménez, a product of nine years of interviews which records the dialogues between the artist and art historian Ariel Jiménez. Throughout the interview, Soto expresses his fascination with the dematerializing power of light, a concept that resonates strongly in Penetrable. Find the publication and read more about Soto’s art and ideas here.

Video:
Watch a short video about Jesús Rafael Soto (Ciudad Bolívar, 1923–Paris, 2005) produced by El Tigre Productions for the CPPC:


Exhibition History:
Hispanic Society Museum & Library
New York, New York, United States
June 22, 2023–present
/
Photo by Hiram Trejo.

Olana State Historic Site
Hudson, New York, United States
OVERLOOK. Teresita Fernández Confronts Frederic Church at Olana
May 14, 2017–November 25, 2018
/
© 2017 Peter Aaron/OTTO.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Los Angeles, California, United States
May 3, 2011–February 12, 2017
/

Blanton Museum of Art
Austin, Texas, United States
The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection
February 20–April 22, 2007
/

Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes
Mexico City, Mexico
Cruce de miradas. Visiones de América Latina en la Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
August 2–October 21, 2006
/
 Photo by Carlos Germán Rojas

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Inverted Utopias. Avant-Garde Art in Latin America
June 20–September 12, 2004
/

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Geo-metrías. Abstracción geométrica latinoamericana en la Colección Cisneros
March 14–May 19, 2003
/

Top image: Soto’s Penetrable installed at Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, New York, in conjunction with the exhibition “Overlook. Teresita Fernández confronts Frederic Church at Olana” (May 14, 2017–November 25, 2018). ©2017 Peter Aaron/OTTO.
  • Artist: Jesús Rafael Soto
  • Title: Penetrable
  • Date: 1990
  • Materials: Painted iron, aluminum and plastic hoses
  • Dimensions: 508 x 508 x 508 cm (200 x 200 x 200 inches)
  • Artist: Jesús Rafael Soto
  • Title: Penetrable
  • Date: 1990
  • Materials: Painted iron, aluminum and plastic hoses
  • Dimensions: 508 x 508 x 508 cm (200 x 200 x 200 inches)
This work is currently installed at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.
Description of artwork:
Penetrable (1990) is an interactive sculpture created by Jesús Rafael Soto, a prominent Venezuelan artist known for his involvement in the kinetic and op art movement. Composed of suspended yellow plastic tubes arranged within a steel grid, the structure beckons individuals to engage with it. As viewers navigate through the dense curtain of tubes, they are enveloped and seemingly absorbed into the artwork, blurring the boundaries between themselves and the piece.

In their contribution to the catalogue for the exhibition "The Geometry of Hope," art historian Luis Pérez Oramas states:
The Pen­etrable is the locus in which Soto both synthesized and condensed the contra­dictions and utopias implicit in his artistic project. As an optical work seen from a dis­tance, the Penetrable functions as a kind of dematerialization machine, absorbing into the extraordinary transparency of its inte­rior the bodies that penetrate it. As a tactile work experienced physically, the Penetrable functions in the manner of a coarse-textured, visual-saturation machine as viewers’ bod­ies penetrate its skein of plastic lines and become immersed in its opaque environment. Soto said that at one point he had dreamed of a work that could absorb the entire planet—a utopian, humanistic vision that, in order to be realized, would require the impossible supposition of an ideal viewing point beyond the planet.

In 2011, the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC) published the book Jesús Soto in conversation with Ariel Jiménez, a product of nine years of interviews which records the dialogues between the artist and art historian Ariel Jiménez. Throughout the interview, Soto expresses his fascination with the dematerializing power of light, a concept that resonates strongly in Penetrable. Find the publication and read more about Soto’s art and ideas here.

Video:
Watch a short video about Jesús Rafael Soto (Ciudad Bolívar, 1923–Paris, 2005) produced by El Tigre Productions for the CPPC:


Exhibition History:
Hispanic Society Museum & Library
New York, New York, United States
June 22, 2023–present
/
Photo by Hiram Trejo.

Olana State Historic Site
Hudson, New York, United States
OVERLOOK. Teresita Fernández Confronts Frederic Church at Olana
May 14, 2017–November 25, 2018
/
© 2017 Peter Aaron/OTTO.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Los Angeles, California, United States
May 3, 2011–February 12, 2017
/

Blanton Museum of Art
Austin, Texas, United States
The Geometry of Hope: Latin American Abstract Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection
February 20–April 22, 2007
/

Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes
Mexico City, Mexico
Cruce de miradas. Visiones de América Latina en la Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
August 2–October 21, 2006
/
 Photo by Carlos Germán Rojas

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Inverted Utopias. Avant-Garde Art in Latin America
June 20–September 12, 2004
/

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Geo-metrías. Abstracción geométrica latinoamericana en la Colección Cisneros
March 14–May 19, 2003
/

Top image: Soto’s Penetrable installed at Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, New York, in conjunction with the exhibition “Overlook. Teresita Fernández confronts Frederic Church at Olana” (May 14, 2017–November 25, 2018). ©2017 Peter Aaron/OTTO.