PASSION & SPORT

SOTO

Global renown 

Jésus Rafael Soto, hall d'entrée (1974)

Jesús-Rafael Soto (1922 – 2005) was a painter and sculptor born in Venezuela. After studying the arts and the cinema, Soto turned his attention to pictorial art and became a student at the school of fine arts in Caracas. He moved to Paris in 1950 and, from 1955, began working with such artists as Vasarely, Tinguely and Le Parc for the exhibition Le Mouvement (Motion). This event heralded the birth of kinetic art.

 

In 1995, Soto received France’s National Sculpture Prize. An award that signaled belated recognition by France of a globally renowned protean artist. Today, Soto’s works can be seen around the world, for example, at the headquarters of Unesco, at the Bank of Toronto and at the Pompidou Center in Paris.

Managing space 

Space and visual perception formed the anchor point of Soto’s artistic studies. He explored space in all its forms: encompassing, restricted, distorted or sublimated: “This is the key theme of my work”.  

 

Soto sought to create a sense of continuous motion in space, encouraging spectators to step inside. In 1974, Renault asked Soto to apply his studies on space to an architectural project. The brand wanted the artist’s input for the reception hall and canteen of its new head office. The artist was attracted by the idea of designing an open, functional area. For Renault, the specifications were conventional, although the approach was entirely new. A company’s reception hall has symbolic value. In the case of Renault, it had to reflect the technological excellence, modernity and authority of a leading state-owned group.

A multi-faceted work 

Jésus Rafael Soto, Vibrations

This work brought together art and architecture. It had to be temporarily dismantled when Renault sold its head office. Other architectural works in harmony with the reception hall were reinstalled. For example, Vibrations, a huge optical sculpture measuring 18 meters in length, sets visitors’ eyes dancing when they enter the reception area of the communication building.

 

This high-tech look corresponds to the modern environment of the company, while the optical effects give it an open feel and add a touch of poetry to the whole. An enriching experience for employees and visitors to this building, which was built by Vasconi and fitted out by Jacob & MacFarlane.