Jesús Rafael Soto: Pénétrable BBL Jaune
Born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, Jesús Rafael Soto (1923–2005) was one of the pioneers of kinetic art, creating works that explore movement, space and tactility. Over a career spanning more than seventy years, Soto worked across drawing, painting, sculpture and installation, developing immersive environments that invite visitors to experience art physically and visually.
Presented in Kensington Gardens, Pénétrable BBL Jaune (1999; 2023 Edition) is part of Soto’s celebrated Pénétrable series. Measuring 10 metres long, the sculpture is made from 4,000 suspended yellow PVC tubes hanging from a steel framework. From a distance, the closely spaced strands seem to shimmer and shift due to a moiré effect. Visitors are invited to walk through the work, allowing their movement to activate and transform the space around them.
Soto created his first Pénétrable in 1967 and went on to produce more than seventy versions in different sizes and colours. This work is based on the original Pénétrable BBL Jaune made in 1999 that was relaunched by the artist’s estate in 2023 to mark the centenary of Soto’s birth. For Soto, the viewer is always central to the artwork: the piece is completed through participation, movement and touch.
Artist Biography
Jesús Rafael Soto (1923–2005) worked as the director of the School of Fine Arts in Maracaibo in 1947 and relocated to Paris in 1950, where he became part of a generation of artists experimenting with motion in art. He participated in the landmark exhibition Le Mouvement at Galerie Denise René in 1955, alongside artists such as Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp and Victor Vasarely – a defining moment in the development of kinetic art. During the same decade, he began making kinetic constructions via the use of industrial and synthetic materials such as nylon, Perspex, steel and industrial paint. Soto’s work sought to evoke movement, spatial volume and tactility, a vision that is exemplified by his renowned Pénétrables series.
Major exhibitions of Soto’s works have been held at Signals London (1965); the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (1971); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1974); Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris (1979); Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris (1997);
Museo Tamayo, México (2005) and Guggenheim Bilbao (2019). His works are in the collections of museums around the world such as Tate, London; Museum Ludwig, Germany; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome and MoMA, New York.
Lizzie Carey-Thomas, Director of Programmes and Chief Curator
Alexa Chow, Assistant Exhibitions Curator
Production: Richard Install, Head of Production and Alice Houghton, Registrar
