The curator María Elena Ramos reflects once again on the role of “structure” in Alejandro Otero’s work on the occasion of an exhibition of works that address that theme. Ramos notes the Venezuelan painter and sculptor’s curiosity that leads him to explore reality—beyond artistic questions—and lists the different formal facets, behaviors, and expressions of the concept of “structure” in Otero’s work. Ramos thinks his search for structure is present in all his works (abstract and figurative). She also describes his explorations as universal, variable, and unpredictable, and provides specific examples among his paintings and public sculptures.  

The exhibition Alejandro Otero: las estructuras de la realidad was presented at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas and at the Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto in Ciudad Bolívar in 1990–91. The exhibition provided insight into what the Venezuelan painter and sculptor Alejandro Otero (1921–90) thought about space and structure. In her curatorial essays María Elena Ramos (b. 1947) included a detailed review that differed from the conventional reading of abstract art, indicating its “evolutionary” development toward other languages. She portrays the idea of “structure” as a constant that is expressed in many different, sometimes unpredictable ways in the work, meaning the constructive structure, materiality itself, even the idea or the actual language. The author thus sees in this work a curiosity that combines both structural models in his mind. When translated into expressive terms, this creates a change and a space that becomes movement. Ramos also mentions his view of the work Molino de cuatro aspas as a “basic structural model,” not just for Abra Solar, but for his other large pieces as well. The behavior of the module as a unit that repeats itself but can experience variations illuminates the configuration of these urban sculptures. Otero’s work represented Venezuela at the XXI Bienal de São Paulo (1991), where he was awarded a posthumous honorary mention.    

To read other critical articles about Otero’s work, see the by J. R. Guillent Pérez (also a member of the Los Disidentes group) “Realidad e irrealidad. El postigo de Alejandro Otero” [doc. no. 1172158]; by Guillermo Meneses “La exposición de Alejandro Otero Rodríguez” [doc. no. 1097092]; by Roberto Guevara “La vertical vibrante de Maracay, 1968” [doc. no. 1168201]; the essay by François Sego from the catalogue for the exhibition Alejandro Otero (1949) [doc. no. 850732]; the article by Héctor Mujica “La nueva plástica venezolana” [doc. no. 850512]; the article by María Elena Ramos “Alejandro Otero, permaneciendo. Retrospectiva en el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo” [doc. no. 1172282]; the review by Ernesto Guevara “Sólo quisiera ser puntual. El tiempo en la pintura de Alejandro Otero” [doc. no. 1163813]; the essay by Damián Bayón “El espacio dinámico en la obra de Alejandro Otero” [doc. no. 1167828]; the articles by Juan Calzadilla “Exposiciones en Caracas: Alejandro Otero - Galería Mendoza” [doc. no 1172174] and “Alejandro Otero y la enseñanza del arte” [doc. no. 1167940]; the article by Miguel Otero Silva “Sobre unas declaraciones disidentes del pintor Alejandro Otero Rodríguez” [doc. no. 813737]; and, finally, the reviews by José Ratto-Ciarlo “En pro y en contra de Alejandro Otero” [doc. no. 850770] and Juan Carlos Palenzuela “Una conciencia de arte latinoamericano” [doc. no. 1163142].