This essay written by the Venezuelan art critic and poet Roberto Guevara (1932−98) elaborated on the visit to Venezuela by Marisol [Escobar] (1930?2016), the Venezuelan-North American sculptor who was born in Paris, on the occasion of her first exhibition there. It was held in 1973 at the Galería Estudio Actual in Caracas. It is an atypical essay, as Guevara had intended to interview Marisol, but the introverted and peculiar character of the artist led him to abandon that “absurd” idea and instead focus on writing an essay. In it, Guevara goes beyond highlighting her artistic achievements, focusing more on the human than on the artistic perspective. Marisol had not exhibited before in the country of her parents, and the expectations surrounding her arrival were enormous. The Pop art movement had emerged with great force in North America, and therefore the fact that one of its primary representatives was a “Venezuelan” artist was seized on by the local critics.
This essay is a reflection of it. Guevara had eagerly awaited a personal meeting with the artist, but perhaps he met with disappointment in having to grapple with her introverted personality. However, he highlights the diverse qualities of Marisol’s sculpture and many of her ideas and concepts are consciously and thoroughly analyzed by Guevara. Among them, the “allowed and caused discontinuity” and the abandonment of the harmonious composition of forms and volumes. For him, Marisol is an “unclassifiable” artist who disdains from common formulas to “clichés.”
