By Janet Batet, Arts JournalistThe Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, at the FIU (Florida International University) offers to us a must see: Volf Roitman: From MADI to the LUDIC revolution. Conceived as retrospective, the show has become tribute due to the sudden death of the artist less than a month before to the opening of the show. Son of Russian-Romanian immigrants, Volf Roitman was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1931. Tireless traveler, his perennial pilgrimage earned him the epithet of “the world citizen”. Roitman, who resided in several countries including Argentina, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, set his last home in Holiday, Florida, where the creator passed away last April 25, at the age of 60. Volf Roitman’s legacy is inextricably linked to the Concrete Art and specifically, the MADI group, founded in Buenos Aires in 1945. Interested in a non-mimetic art characterized by geometric forms, bold colors and a ludic relationship between author, artwork and viewer, the MADI group is one of the vital poles of the Abstract Revolution played by the arts in Latin America in the 1950s.

Roitman’s asymmetric compositions dynamite the traditional frame incorporating the volume and the negative space to the artwork. Sometimes referred to as a “Renaissance Man” because of his multifaceted personality (painter, sculptor, architect, and writer), Roitman’s kinetic sculptures are irreverent mathematical puzzles that invite the viewer to a flirt with the artwork in a marvelous ludic experience that enhance the esthetic perception per se.

Volf Roitman: From MADI to the LUDIC revolution is a complete panning on Roitman’s prolix career and a wonderful experience.