In this article the Venezuelan artist Luis Chacón (1927?2009) outlines his own vision for printmaking after eighteen years in the field. He describes the exhibition Los planetas—at the Ateneo de Caracas (1967)—as a new approach in his work and to his ideas about printmaking. This exhibition took place during the same year at the Unión Panamericana (Washington, DC). In the article Chacón states that: “(…) it is time to make changes in printmaking so that it is no longer a repetitive process,” a controversial view that contradicted the original idea of printmaking as a democratization of art. A year earlier (in 1966) Chacón had joined the New International Printmakers Group (headquartered in Brussels), with whom he had taken part in exhibitions and had exchanged information, opinions, and points of view about this ancient medium and its techniques. While he did not mention his thoughts on the subject of individual, unique plates at that time, he was not happy with the traditional approach, as he made clear when he was interviewed that year (José Antonio Rial, “El grabado. Chacón revive y renueva un noble arte,” in El Universal, Caracas, December 11, 1966; p. 5) [see doc. no. 1151366]. In that interview Chacón expressed his respect for printmaking’s centuries-old techniques, but suggested that it should evolve.
In his series Los planetas, chiseled on small plates that were then assembled on master plates, Chacón used circles, light, and movement as the main elements in his composition.
