In this interview with Miguel von Dangel by Yasmín Monsalve, the artist shares his reaction to having been awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Venezuela in 1991. Von Dangel recounts how he got his start in the arts and explains his approach to the mythical and religious [concerns]. He asserts that the artist has a responsibility to his particular moment in history. Von Dangel believes that he was awarded the prize in recognition of a nonconformist attitude rather than for his accomplishments. Now more than ever, he embraces a commitment to honing his visual discourse, which as the artist asserts will undoubtedly allow him to express himself more freely.

In this interview by journalist Yasmín Monsalve, German-born Venezuelan artist Miguel von Dangel (b. 1946) shares his reaction to having been awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Venezuela in 1991. The artist discusses the religious and mythical aspect of his work—one of the most widely discussed aspects of his production. He explains his vision for the artist’s social responsibility.

Von Dangel expresses mixed feelings about having been awarded the prize. He understands it as recognition of the nonconformist attitude he has had throughout his life, yet he categorically opposes prizes in general. Von Dangel manages to find a middle ground: the award does not require him to assume a complacent attitude—on the contrary, it incites his commitment to even greater freedom. For von Dangel, the artist’s social commitment and ethical stance are vital. His position is not based on a combative ideology, but on the need for artists to engage the major dilemmas facing the world in which they are part. Examples of such concerns include conceptions of religion and myth in the New World—major themes in his production. Von Dangel would return to some of the topics discussed in this interview years later in an interview with Aurora Blyde, entitled “Lo trascendente y lo cotidiano: Conversación con Miguel von Dangel,” 1993. That latter interview took place on the occasion of the artist’s retrospective exhibition at the Galería de Arte Nacional (GAN) in Caracas in 1993. 

For other critical writings on von Dangel’s work, see Elsa Flores’s texts, “Miguel von Dangel: La respuesta latinoamericana (I)” (ICAA digital archive doc. no. 1155150), “Miguel Von Dangel: La respuesta latinoamericana (III)” (doc. no. 1154906), and “Miguel Von Dangel” (doc. no. 1056044); Roberto Montero Castro’s essay, “Transfiguraciones de Miguel Von Dangel” (doc. no.1153996), published in 1986; María Luz Cárdenas’s essays, “La Batalla de San Romano de Von Dangel (I) (doc. no. 1154028) and “La Batalla de San Romano de Von Dangel (II)”(doc. no. 1154092); Ruth Auerbach, “Hoy, el paisaje es aquí y ahora” (doc. no. 855314), published in 1996; Julio Ortega’s essay, “La iridiscencia del ojo de la materia o como leer un objeto artístico procesal” (doc. no. 1155251), published in 1997; and Axel Stein, “Interview with Miguel Von Dangel” (doc. no. 1102348), published in English in 1998.