[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”509.7px” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”30px||||false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_heading title=”Ruben Nu\u00f1ez (1930\u20132012)” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Ruben Nu\u00f1ez was passionate about almost everything: the people he met, the artworks he created, the studios he occupied, the exhibitions he showed in \u2013 all of which made up an unusual \u2018space\u2019 \u2013 his \u201cPhotonic Cosmos\u201d.<\/p>\n
At a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s when artists were starting to embrace holography by recording three-dimensional objects and models, Nu\u00f1ez was attempting to capture light and vibration.\u00a0\u00a0He was unusual in the field, not least because of his background in contemporary art and glass.<\/p>\n
While working within the Op-art and kinetic art movement during the 1950s, he had contact with artists such as Victor Vasarely, Joan Mir\u00f3 and Alexander Calder.\u00a0Unsurprisingly, their influences encouraged his remarkable enthusiasm for colour, vibration and movement.<\/p>\n
Early attempts to \u2018capture\u2019 light can be found in his cast glass sculptures where he intentionally caused bubbles and defects to form in the molten glass so that they would reflect and refract the light passing through them.\u00a0\u00a0He certainly knew just how much to distress and distort his molten casts, but he was unable to \u2018fix\u2019 or \u2018stabilise\u2019 the refracted colours being produced.<\/p>\n
Holography offered a solution, a way of solidifying the memory of his light constructions and, by the late 1970\u2019s, he made his first holograms. They provided a three-dimensional \u2018memory\u2019 of the path and effect of light passing through his spontaneously generated bubbles and carefully cut surfaces.\u00a0\u00a0There is a remarkable logic to the way these early pieces developed and the resulting holograms gave Nu\u00f1ez the opportunity to replay the quality of light and colour he wanted his audiences to engage with.<\/p>\n
He coined the term \u2018Holokinetics\u2019 \u2013 kinetic art through holography.\u00a0\u00a0Rosemary Jackson, founding director of the Museum of Holography in New York, recognised the quality and passion of his research and offered him a solo exhibition in the SoHo based museum during 1978.\u00a0\u00a0These were early days for artists, curators and the museum-visiting public who often struggled to comprehend this new visual vocabulary.\u00a0\u00a0They were expecting the cleverness and recognised familiarity of 3D \u2018objects\u2019 floating in space.\u00a0\u00a0Nu\u00f1ez gave them the subtle colours and ephemeral forms he was so passionate about.<\/p>\n
During the early 1980s I helped Ruben build his holography studio in a basement of a building in lower Manhattan.\u00a0\u00a0We carried bags of sand, heaps of car tyres and buckets of chemicals down into the dark where he constructed an unconventional laboratory more akin to that of an alchemist than optical engineer or artist.\u00a0\u00a0He had an infectious enthusiasm manifest through his constant narrative and desire to \u2018tinker\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0I would leave those sessions exhausted and slightly frustrated that simple tasks would take so long \u2013 we constantly had to have \u2018breaks\u2019 in local cafes and bars so that he could contemplate his next \u2018move\u2019 and how that would influence future works and experiments.\u00a0\u00a0Those were very special \u2018breaks\u2019 full of circuitous conversation with a very special person.<\/p>\n
His enthusiasm was infectious \u2013 he knew he would succeed and the tiny holographic gems he has distributed in galleries and collections around the world will maintain a fitting epitaph for a remarkable thinker, maker and lovely individual with true integrity and generosity of spirit.<\/p>\n
Ruben Nu\u00f1ez died on 7\u00a0January 2012.<\/p>\n
Andrew Pepper January 2012<\/p>\n
A book about his life and work, overseen by Nu\u00f1ez, was to be published by Editorial Arte in Caracas during 2001.\u00a0\u00a0It was partially funded with a grant from the Shearwater Foundation in 1999 and 2000.\u00a0\u00a0Sadly it never made it into print.\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps now is a good time to resurrect the project and permanently document the remarkable impact Ruben Nu\u00f1ez made on kinetics, glass and holography.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Holokinetics_Nunez.jpg” title_text=”Holokinetics_Nunez” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Catalogeu cover for Ruben Nu\u00f1ez solo exhibition at the Museum of Holography, New York.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ruben-Nunez-head.jpg” title_text=”Ruben Nunez head” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Ruben Nu\u00f1ez<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n This text was originally published in 2012 on holographer.org, an \u2018electronic only\u2019 magazine with a focus on display holography, individuals, companies working in the field, museum artifacts, art holography and holographic portraiture.<\/p>\n The details are given here for reference and archive purposes.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Holographer-org-homepage.png” title_text=”Holographer org homepage” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-15px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Final homepage of holographer.org before it ceased publishing.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.24.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ruben Nu\u00f1ez was passionate about almost everything: the people he met, the artworks he created, the studios he occupied, the exhibitions he showed in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[73,74,72,71],"class_list":["post-28487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications","tag-events","tag-focus","tag-highlights","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28487"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29876,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28487\/revisions\/29876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apepper.com\/studio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}