In this essay, Víctor Guédez reviews the work of the Venezuelan sculptor Carlos Mendoza. The critic proposes a classification of the artist’s work according to four categories, each one focused on a particular aspect of his sculptural works, as follows: their aesthetic styles, which go beyond simple geometric and constructive Abstraction; their visual aspects, concerning the alphabetic nature of his sculptures; their materials, including supports such as stone, wood, and marble; and, finally, their conceptual bases (forms, signs, and symbols). 

The Venezuelan art critic and educator Víctor Guédez (b. 1954) takes a close look at the visual and aesthetic elements involved in the sculptural work of the Venezuelan artist Carlos Mendoza (b. 1953). Guédez explains what prompted Mendoza to use certain elements, and discusses the visual results in each case. This essay is essential reading for those who would understand Mendoza’s work, because of its great conceptual complexity and its thorough analysis of his sculpture, as well as its attempt to decipher the semantic meanings of his work. The latter is important since Mendoza’s work is characterized by his generous use of signs and symbols. True to his signature analytical style, Guédez often describes the elements and factors in Mendoza’s sculptures, and makes a sort of inventory of their visual attributes and aesthetic styles. It is particularly interesting to note that, after studying the full gamut of its aesthetic styles, Guédez describes Mendoza’s work as “Abstract-geometric-constructive-symbolic-baroque” because, in the critic’s opinion, those styles are equally represented in all his works.  

This description differs from the simplicity that the artist Manuel Quintana Castillo sees in Mendoza’s work, as expressed in his essay that was published in the same catalogue, “Carlos Mendoza. Obra escultórica reciente” (Caracas: GAN, 1990), in which he describes it as “constructive-organic.”