From 1965 to 1970 Peru spawned a number of avant-garde movements that were closely attuned to international art centers. A key feature of this process was the critical and theoretical work of Juan Acha (1916–1995), who used his column in the Lima newspaper El Comercio to encourage the nascent spirit of artistic renewal. Other commentators also contributed to the cause, including Edgardo Pérez Luna, a writer who had been working as a cultural journalist since the previous decade. Pérez Luna was in fact one of the first to champion the work produced by the Grupo Señal (1965–66), whose members included Luis Arias Vera (b. 1931), Emilio Hernández Saavedra (b. 1940), José Tang (1941–2006), Armando Varela (b. 1933), and Jaime Dávila (b. 1937). The group had its first exhibition in 1965 at the Galería Solisol, which was directed by the painter César Pereira. They had their second exhibition a year later at the IAC in Lima. In 1966, the members of Grupo Señal aligned themselves with another group of artists and—in response to the Festival Americano de Pintura that was held that year—formed the Arte Nuevo group, thus strengthening the cosmopolitan avant-garde in Peru in the 1960s.
The following members of Grupo Señal formed the Arte Nuevo group: Arias Vera, Gloria Gómez-Sánchez (1921–2007), Teresa Burga (b. 1935), Dávila, Víctor Delfín (b. 1927), Hernández Saavedra, Tang, Varela, and Luis Zevallos Hetzel (b. 1933). They originally installed their works in an abandoned neon sign store in the older, historic part of downtown Lima—just a few meters from the Plaza Mayor and the Government Palace—transforming it into an improvised gallery they called El ombligo de Adán [Adam’s Navel]. This exhibition, that included a strong showing of Pop Art, Op Art, and “environmental art,” was a breakthrough for the new movements in Peru, especially with regard to their challenge to so-called “traditional” art.