Axel Stein, the well-known cultural agent, interviews Ernesto León (b. 1956) for an article in the catalogue for the exhibition Three Venezuelans in Two Dimensions. Miguel von Dangel. Ernesto León. Carlos Zerpa (New York: Americas Society Art Gallery, 1988). León mentions that there are signs of a fairly cohesive national art movement in Venezuela. He explains that he has been showing Venezuelan landscapes in his paintings since the very early days of his career. His study of “native art” led him to explore the art of tapestry (influenced by Venezuela’s Guajira Indians) while he was also studying and drawing birds, plants, and fish, although in that case it was for pure enjoyment of nature rather than as part of a nationalist work. León explains that the works at the New York exhibition were about foliage, and were arranged in individual pieces that avoided any reference to specific things.  

The Venezuelan curator, critic, and cultural agent Axel Stein interviews Ernesto León (b. 1956) for an article in the catalogue for Three Venezuelans in Two Dimensions. Miguel von Dangel. Ernesto León. Carlos Zerpa, the exhibition at the Americas Society Art Gallery from January through April 1988. The interview briefly touched on certain stages of León’s work, including his different interests and the range of techniques and media he used, such as painting, tapestry, drawing, ceramics, and others. Stein sees a coherent discourse that is deeply rooted in Venezuelan iconography, which explains the main recurring referent in León’s work. León stressed that his work should not be seen as nationalist art, although Venezuela is (somehow always present) in his work. Perhaps because he sees it as part of a contemporary sensibility linked to universal priorities, as in the case of his ecological interests and his focus on the environment.    

For Axel Stein’s two other texts on the subject of Three Venezuelans in Two Dimensions. Miguel von Dangel. Ernesto León. Carlos Zerpa, the exhibition presented at Americas Society Art Gallery in New York from January through April 1988, see the interview with Miguel von Dangel [doc. no. 1102348], and with Carlos Zerpa [doc. no. 1102380].