Joël Stein
Joël Stein (1926-2012), a French artist of the kinetic art movement, was born in 1926 and co-founded the Groupe GRAV (Visual Art Research Group) alongside François Morellet, Jean-Pierre Yvaral, Julio Le Parc, Francisco Sobrino, and Horacio Garcia Rossi.
In 1946, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and attended Fernand Léger’s workshop. From 1956 onwards, he began to conceive his first programmed geometric paintings based on mathematical principles.
Starting in 1958, he explored the idea of the labyrinth in a still two-dimensional form, and then, from 1959, created his first manipulable reliefs. In 1962, his research on the chromatic polarization of light led him to create his first luminous boxes, called Polascopes.
Continuing his work, he conceived various interactive objects, such as turntables and kaleidoscopes. In 1963, he participated in the 3rd Paris Biennale, where he imagined his Labyrinthe du GRAV (GRAV Labyrinth), featuring manipulable lamps. Through this approach, his creations integrated real movement and a direct interactive relationship with the viewer.
Joël Stein’s early experiments revolved around visual phenomena based on mathematical algorithms, the conception of labyrinths, and objects allowing the public to activate the artwork. According to him, “the eye is a motor that animates the colored surface,” and his research aimed to produce an “unstable perception,” where forms and colors seem to oscillate.
His work focuses on light, movement, and color, whether through his paintings or his luminous boxes. He adopted a rigorous and minimalist approach in opposition to the dominant abstract lyricism of the early 1960s. While he finished with spontaneous gesture and arbitrary expression, preferring geometric control, as he explained himself, his work is not limited to a simple formula:
“I always strive not to reduce my work to a convenient formula; in each issue, I try to preserve a way out, a sort of trapdoor allowing escape. Behind its apparent smooth surface lies a movement; it is the opposite of a trap, an issue towards something else.”