Vardanega

Gregorio Vardanega pursued his artistic studies at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, earning a degree as a drawing professor. In 1946, he actively participated in exhibitions organized by the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención (AACI). His artistic journey led him to Europe, accompanying Uruguayan artist Carmelo Arden Quin. A year later, he presented his work at the Salon d’Amérique Latine in Paris, an exhibition that introduced him to prominent figures in Paris’s burgeoning kinetic art movement, including Denise René, Georges Vantongerloo, Nicolas Pevsner, Sonia Delaunay, Max Bill, and Constantin Brancusi.

Upon returning to Buenos Aires, Vardanega initiated his foray into kinetic art, creating his earliest kinetic pieces using metal bands and celluloid. Positioned at the center of various avant-garde artistic circles in Argentina, he played a pivotal role as a founding member of the Asociación Arte Nuevo in 1955 and, in the subsequent year, the Agrupación de “Arte no Figurativo Argentino.” In 1957, he featured in the group exhibition “14 Pintores abstractos” at the Galería Galatea in Buenos Aires. Notably, he received the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium, in 1958 and participated in the IV Bienal de São Paulo in Brazil.

In 1959, Vardanega relocated to Paris alongside Martha Boto, embarking on experiments involving Plexiglas spheres illuminated with moving projections of colored lights. His subsequent body of work predominantly delved into the aesthetics of light, movement, color, and electronic programs. He exhibited a particular fascination with the cultural phenomenon of thinking machines, aligning his work with architecture and urban planning, envisioning that his towers and light installations would be accompanied by music and other forms of performative art. Many of his sculptures were considered prototypes for large-scale public projects.

His debut major exhibition in Paris, “Chromocinétisme” (1964), was a joint endeavor with Boto at La Maison des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Gregorio Vardanega’s work has since been featured in numerous significant surveys of kinetic art.

His works have been showcased in numerous important exhibitions and can be found in collections around the world.