Soto's Penetrable BBL Bleu

From 2011 to 2017, LACMA displayed a yellow "Penetrable" by the artist Jesús Rafael Soto (Venezuela, 1923–2005, active Paris), which was one of the most popular works installed on campus. In 2020 LACMA acquired a magical blue "Penetrable" by Soto. Conceived in 1999, five years before the artist’s death, "Penetrable BBL Bleu" brilliantly captures Soto’s lifelong fascination with space, color, and the importance of viewer participation to activate and complete the work of art.

Soto was a pioneering and internationally renowned figure associated with Op and kinetic art. He created his first signature "Penetrable" around 1966 using simple industrial materials—plastic tubes and metal. (Throughout his career, Soto created a number of "Penetrables," which have been shown all over the world.) Embodying his interest in the intangible quality of light and the dematerialization of solid matter—what he called the “density of space, its fullness”—the "Penetrables" are a series of optical, kinetic, and tactile environments (some are also sonorous) meant to be traversed physically. The film shows Soto’s "Penetrables", including LACMA’s recently acquired piece, and explains the philosophy behind this participatory and immersive group of works.

This artwork was purchased with funds provided by Ronald A. Belkin, Alice and Nahum Lainer, Willow Bay and Bob Iger, Colleen and Brad Bell, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Mary Solomon,
Hana and Kelvin Davis, C. E. Horton, Ann Colgin and Joe Wender, Belldegrun Family Foundation, Inc., the Louis L. Borick Foundation, Andy and Carlo Brandon-Gordon, Mary and Daniel James, Janet Dreisen Rappaport, Nadine and Fredric D. Rosen, Florence and Harry Sloan, Susan and Eric Smidt, Estrellita and Daniel Brodsky, Wendy Stark Morrissey, and Surpik and Paolo Angelini through the 2020 Collectors Committee.

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Located on the Pacific Rim, LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of nearly 140,000 objects that illuminate 6,000 years of artistic expression across the globe. Committed to showcasing a multitude of art histories, LACMA exhibits and interprets works of art from new and unexpected points of view that are informed by the region’s rich cultural heritage and diverse population. LACMA’s spirit of experimentation is reflected in its work with artists, technologists, and thought leaders as well as in its regional, national, and global partnerships to share collections and programs, create pioneering initiatives, and engage new audiences.

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