José María Cruz Novillo studied at the School of Arts and Crafts of his hometown of Cuenca and during his youth, he was assistant to the sculptor José Navarro Gabaldón. In 1958, he moved to Madrid.
His visual art career is an ongoing exercise in exploring human perception. Using colour and mathematics, he designs pieces and situations in which the viewer completes the work. His Diaphragms, whose etymological meaning is interception, bring together simple and monochromatic elements starting from the circle and the line, where sound, photographs, etc. are added to develop synaesthetic pieces whose meaning arises from experience. For example, Decaphonic Diaphragms of Digits, at the Spanish National Statistics Institute (Madrid, 2008), offers multiple possible interpretations: each colour is equivalent to a digit that is turned into statistical data reflecting the extension of Spain, its population, the number of cities it contains, etc. However, apart from acting as a numerical code, the colours can also be translated into musical notes, turning the façade of the building into a type of stave ready to be interpreted.
Cruz Novillo is also a designer and has created the logos for some important private and public companies, media outlets, political parties and government institutions, including those of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Party], Renfe, El Mundo newspaper, the Public Treasury, Repsol, etc., along with the last banknotes issued by Banco de España when the peseta was still legal tender.
In 2006, he was made a member of the San Fernando Fine Arts Academy and in 2012 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts.
He was exhibited at the São Paulo Biennial (1977), and has had solo shows at the AELE - Evelyn Botella Gallery (Madrid, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004 & 2006); the School of Architecture at the University of Navarra (Pamplona/Iruña, 1984); the Barjola Museum (Gijón, 1992); the Malaga Professional Association of Architects (2001); the Antonio Pérez Foundation (Cuenca, 2002) and the Museum of Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando (Madrid, 2011), among others.
José María Cruz Novillo studied at the School of Arts and Crafts of his hometown of Cuenca and during his youth, he was assistant to the sculptor José Navarro Gabaldón. In 1958, he moved to Madrid.
His visual art career is an ongoing exercise in exploring human perception. Using colour and mathematics, he designs pieces and situations in which the viewer completes the work. His Diaphragms, whose etymological meaning is interception, bring together simple and monochromatic elements starting from the circle and the line, where sound, photographs, etc. are added to develop synaesthetic pieces whose meaning arises from experience. For example, Decaphonic Diaphragms of Digits, at the Spanish National Statistics Institute (Madrid, 2008), offers multiple possible interpretations: each colour is equivalent to a digit that is turned into statistical data reflecting the extension of Spain, its population, the number of cities it contains, etc. However, apart from acting as a numerical code, the colours can also be translated into musical notes, turning the façade of the building into a type of stave ready to be interpreted.
Cruz Novillo is also a designer and has created the logos for some important private and public companies, media outlets, political parties and government institutions, including those of the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Party], Renfe, El Mundo newspaper, the Public Treasury, Repsol, etc., along with the last banknotes issued by Banco de España when the peseta was still legal tender.
In 2006, he was made a member of the San Fernando Fine Arts Academy and in 2012 he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts.
He was exhibited at the São Paulo Biennial (1977), and has had solo shows at the AELE - Evelyn Botella Gallery (Madrid, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004 & 2006); the School of Architecture at the University of Navarra (Pamplona/Iruña, 1984); the Barjola Museum (Gijón, 1992); the Malaga Professional Association of Architects (2001); the Antonio Pérez Foundation (Cuenca, 2002) and the Museum of Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando (Madrid, 2011), among others.