Lygia Clark

Lygia Clark was a Brazilian artist and inventor who was considered a pioneer of technological art in Brazil. She was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, in 1928, and moved with her family to Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) in 1932. She studied mechanics, physics and drawing in Tel Aviv, and returned to Brazil in 1948. She was influenced by her friendship with the art critic Mario Pedrosa and by her visits to the psychiatric center where Nise da Silveira used art as therapy. She experimented with electromechanical systems and light, and created her first kinechromatic apparatus in 1949, which was a machine that projected colored shapes on a screen. She exhibited her works at the First São Paulo Biennial in 1951, where she received a special mention from the jury. She also created paintings, sculptures, drawings and objects that explored the possibilities of movement, color and form. She collaborated with several publications and institutions, and received many awards and honors. She died in Rio de Janeiro in 2020, at the age of 92, due to complications after a stroke. She left behind a legacy of innovation, creativity and originality that influenced generations of Brazilian and international artists.