In this newspaper interview, José Ratto Ciarlo talks to the painter Régulo Pérez, eliciting his thoughts concerning Venezuelan artists exiled in Paris and other parts of the world, the total lack of a “Venezuelan art” as such, and Picasso’s work, Cubism, and Surrealism. Pérez thinks the Venezuelan artists living in Paris have exchanged their social awareness and cultural involvement for art training and a modicum of technical skill; they are beyond the reach of the Venezuelan art circuit, thus contributing to the nonexistence of a true Venezuelan art. Pérez thinks Picasso was the loser, not the winner of the twentieth century because he died in exile, and he considers Surrealism to be a permanent creative movement, far superior to Cubism.  

The journalist and critic José Ratto Ciarlo (1904–97) interviews the Venezuelan visual artist Régulo Pérez (b. 1929) on the occasion of the exhibition Bestiario (Caracas: Sala Humboldt, 1973). The interview showcases Pérez’s frank, curious, and incisive thoughts about artists who have immigrated from Venezuela, and the absence of a true Venezuelan art. The painter expresses the same combative, revolutionary ideas he has espoused since his very early work. This time, however, he does not express them with or through his work, but in his replies to the interviewer’s questions. This reaffirms that his ideas and convictions have transcended the formal realm to become his principles, concepts, and even ideology. 

Ratto Ciarlo knows this about Pérez and asks his question accordingly. This strategy reveals Régulo’s involvement in social transformation as a “living and creative” artist, thus providing a broader picture of the man-artist and his work.

[Regarding this artist’s work, see in the ICAA digital archive by Rafael Pineda, “Régulo y el eje Orinoco – Pintura” (doc. no. 1154220) and “Naturaleza y cultura” (from the catalogue for Régulo en Acquavella, Caracas, 1981) (doc. no. 1154268); by Bélgica Rodríguez “Régulo: un nuevo lenguaje” (doc. no. 1157776); by Roberto Guevara “Régulo y la cultura visual” (doc. no. 1157759); the review by Jesús Sanoja Hernández “Prólogo serio para el más serio de nuestros humoristas” (doc. no. 1154188); by Mingui Betancourt “Pinto vampiros porque no sé pintar flores” (doc. no. 1157808); “Conversando con Régulo Pérez. Entrevistado por Berna Parra, María Eugenia Sánchez y Margarita Villarroel” (doc. no. 1154236); the partial timeline by Ivette Villarreal “La salvación por la imagen” (doc. no. 1154300); the review by Oswaldo Barreto “Régulo Pérez. La ciudad se revierte” (doc. no. 1154172); a copy of the letter the artist wrote to decline the 1.º Premio de Pintura awarded at the Exposición Nacional de Artes Plásticas in 1972 (doc. no. 1157824); the essay by Carlos Yusti “Régulo Pérez o la múltiple actividad creadora” (doc. no. 1154156); and the article by Juan Calzadilla “Régulo Pérez: el compromiso con la realidad” (doc. no. 1154252)].