In his article “El XXVII Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales: reflexiones y argumentos” [The 27th National Salon for the Visual Arts: Reflections and Arguments], Eduardo Márceles Daconte challenges the unfavorable views of the Salón Nacional de Artistas [National Artists Salon] being expressed in certain cultural circles. The critic begins by offering definitions of art and by placing conceptual works in context. In his opinion, “we are at a stage in history in which artists are committed, as we all are, to take sides in the conflicts of contemporary life.” He also criticizes artists who produce what he calls “placard art”—referring to artists who are politically active. He goes on to air his opinions about the Salón Nacional de Artistas, emerging trends in Colombian art, and the gradual displacement of hyper-realism and the graphic arts, and to voice his approval concerning the first prize awarded to A-la-cena con zapatos [Larder (To-Dinner) with Shoes] (1978), the installation created by the Barranquilla group El Sindicato [The Union]. He describes the work and praises its humor. He ends his article by referring to works that have won prizes at other regional salons for Colombian artists during the current year.    

El café literario [The Literary Café] (1977-1987) was one of the most influential cultural magazines in Colombia during the 1970s and 1980s. Its editorial board included members such as the writer Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal (b. 1945), Danilo Cruz Vélez (1920–2008), and the historians Jaime Duarte French (1921–2003), Abelardo Forero Benavides (1912–2003), and Ramón de Zubiría (1922–1995), among many others.

The XXVII Salón Nacional de Artistas [27th National Artists Salon] (1978), reviewed by Eduardo Márceles Daconte (b. 1942) in this magazine, was especially controversial. A great number of articles, reviews, and critiques of the Salon were published in the press, many of which discussed the value of the prizes awarded by the jury. One of the prizes was awarded to A-la-cena con zapatos [Larder with Shoes] (1978), the installation by the Barranquilla group known as “El Sindicato” [The Union] that was active from 1976 to 1979. The group’s installation consisted of old shoes, found in garbage cans and on the streets of their Caribbean port city, nailed to a wooden larder (used for food storage). After it was rejected in Barranquilla, the installation was exhibited at the Salón Nacional in Bogotá where it was awarded first prize by the jury whose members included Aracy Amaral (b.1930) from Brazil, Waldo Rasmussen, the North American agent associated with MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, and Santiago Cárdenas (b. 1937). According to Márceles Daconte, this installation “seeks to demystify everything about the Salón (…). It recreates the social and urban decay experienced by the coastal city” of Barranquilla. The second prize was awarded to Ana Mercedes Hoyos for Atmósfera [Atmosphere], a white canvas.   

This article, together with those published by the art critic Marta Traba [see, “Una mirada sobre el Salón” [A Look at the Salon], Arte en Colombia [Art in Colombia], # 9, April 1979] and Luis Caballero in the magazines Arte en Colombia and Alternativa [Alternative], are the most interesting versions of the controversy.