Biography
Venezuelan artist Jesús Rafael Soto studied at the art school in Caracas. In 1950, he moved to Paris. There he had contact with Jean Tinguely, Victor Vasarely and artists associated with Galerie Denise René, the pioneering gallery for geometric abstraction and kinetic art after World War II. Soto participates in Le mouvement at Galerie Denise René in 1955, the exhibition that marks the beginning of kinetic art. He also contributes to the development of op-art and geometric abstraction. Working not only as a painter, in the 1960s Soto created linear, kinetic constructions with industrial and synthetic materials such as nylon, perspex, steel and industrial paint.