Susana Benko’s (n. 1953) text accompanied an important event in the career of Omar Carreño (n. 1927) —founder of the Expansionist movement in Venezuela— namely the great retrospective exhibition held at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid in 1983 and shown as well at the Museo de Bellas Artes of Caras in 1984. The show brought together works from 1950 – 1983, and the text of the catalogue offers a panorama of the Venezuelan painter and sculptor’s career, which was consistent in its exploration of the possibilities of abstraction and was always open to a diversity of mediums and languages. In this sense, the scholar makes the concept of “transformation” the reflective core of Carreño’s work, also represented in the materialization of his “obra transformable” [transformable work]. Her analysis highlights not only the playful and plural nature of this “obra manipulable” [work that can be manipulated], but also the role that the viewer plays by operating the [work], as well as the part played by memory within the realm of perception. The text develops the common thread of the “obra transformable,” from its flat surfaces, to the polípticos [polyptychs] and motor movement. Benko shows that Carreno’s kinetic inquiries were not limited to tri-dimensional and manipulatable works, but also included flat works that allowed for the manipulation of expressive elements. Furthermore, she also emphasizes the multiple possibilities that Carreño created by combining other objects, poems, and lights to create a new dimension of both medium and genre. Both Carreño’s parallel activities and the importance of theory within his plural proposal constitute a full revision of the abstract movement and his contributions to the Venezuelan arts.
[For other texts on this artist, see the ICAA digital archive: the interviews “Omar Carreño: Premio a la constancia, al genio y a la rectitud del proceder creador” [Omar Carreño: Prize for constancy, genius, and integrity of the creative process] by Alfredo Schael (doc. no. 1157337); “Si todos los barcos del mundo” [ If all the ships of the world] by Carlos Silva (doc. no. 1157369); “Omar Carreño figurativo” [Omar Carreño figurative [artist]]by Mara Comerlati (doc. no. 1157353); “El expansionismo: Último "ismo" inventado en París por Omar Carreño pintor abstracto” [Expansionism: the last “ism” invented in Paris by Omar Carreño, abstract painter] by Antonio Muiño (doc. no. 1157320); as well as the writings of Carlos Maldonado Bourgoin “Vuelta sobre los pasos” [Retracing steps] (doc. no. 1157385) and by Juan Calzadilla “El nereida: óleos recientes” [The Nereid: recent oil paintings] (doc. no. 1157417)].
