This essay, written by the critic and historian Juan Carlos Palenzuela, appeared as the prologue in the catalogue for De engaños y otras lidias, the exhibition of works by the visual artist Miguel von Dangel held at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay in 1993. After a few comments about the history of bull fighting, Palenzuela identifies its artistic origins in the Venezuelan paintings La vara rota by Arturo Michelena and Toro Constelado by Mario Abreu. This, then, is the tradition that von Dangel seeks to embrace in his work. Palenzuela explains that the arrangement of the works in the exhibition space is reminiscent of a bull ring, and goes on to describe some of the main pieces. In his opinion, the materials and the aesthetic in the paintings are the equivalent of a sort of human archaeological dig that reveals bull fighting’s rituals and the passions it inspires.

The critic and historian Juan Carlos Palenzuela (1954–2007) was the curator of De engaños y otras lidias (Maracay: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, 1993), the exhibition of works by the German-born Venezuelan visual artist Miguel von Dangel (b. 1946). Palenzuela also wrote the prologue for the exhibition catalogue, which introduced the artist’s La Tauromaquia series, an installation that combined painting and sculpture to illustrate bull fights. In his essay, Palenzuela briefly reviews the works in the exhibition, describing the recurring features of von Dangel’s aesthetic that he sees in each of them. He discusses the artist’s materials and their possible meaning, thus underscoring their vital importance in von Dangel’s work as vehicles used to convey a range of symbols that carry multiple meanings. It is also interesting to note von Dangel’s incursion into the bull fighting tradition in the Venezuelan arts. Palenzuela sees it as being somewhere between the tragic realism of La vara rota (1892), the painting by Arturo Michelena, and the cosmic power of Toro Constelado (1955), by Mario Abreu, both of which are paradigmatic works in the history of Venezuelan art. Despite those nationalist affiliations, when asked to identify his painterly influences, von Dangel mentions Goya, Picasso, and Fernando Botero. [To read other articles and essays about this artist’s work, see in the ICAA digital archive by Yasmín Monsalve “Mi obra ha tenido que luchar contra muchos prejuicios: un premio nacional visto con la luz de Petare” (doc. no. 1102125); the essays by Elsa Flores “Miguel von Dangel: la respuesta latinoamericana (I)” (doc. no. 1155150), “Miguel von Dangel: La respuesta latinoamericana (II)” (doc. no. 1154906), and “Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1056044); by Roberto Montero Castro “Transfiguraciones de Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no.1153996); the essays by María Luz Cárdenas “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); by Ruth Auerbach “Hoy, el paisaje es aquí y ahora” (doc. no. 855314); by Enrique Viloria “Miguel von Dangel: La conservación del paisaje americano” (doc. no. 1154827); and by Lourdes Blanco “Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1097326); the interview by Axel Stein “Interview with Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1102348); the one with María Cecilia Valera “Entrevista con Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1154060); and the interview by María Josefa Pérez “Miguel von Dangel: No creo el cuento de que Reverón era loco” (doc. no. 1154012); and, finally, the articles by Víctor Guédez “Lo barroco y lo simbólico en la obra de Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1154124), and by Francisco Da Antonio “Cristos de Miguel von Dangel (doc. no. 1154108).