Statement from Catherine Wood, Interim Director of Tate Modern:
'Everyone at Tate is immensely saddened by the news that Julio Le Parc has passed away. A visionary, Le Parc was truly the grandfather of interactive art, and a key figure in what we now call 'immersive' art. He is rightly celebrated around the world for his iconic kinetic sculptures and his pioneering techniques with light and movement, designed to playfully draw in his viewers.
In recent years it has been an honour for our curators to work so closely with him on his upcoming exhibition at Tate Modern. It has given us a chance to look back with him across his extraordinary seven-decade career, from some of his earliest geometric abstract works created in his native Argentina, through to colourful paintings completed last year in his adopted home of Paris. We hope the show will be a fitting tribute to his endlessly creative and experimental vision.
His death is an enormous loss to the international art community as well as to his many friends and the fellow artists he inspired. In particular, our thoughts are with Julio's family at this difficult time, especially his three sons, Gabriel, Juan and Yamil.'