The writer Adriano González León discusses the naming of the avant-garde group El Techo de la Ballena. His defense of the group’s use of the whale, a large animal that is not native to Venezuela, is really a pretext for a call for action in the larger arena of culture—“a painting and poetry action”, as González León puts it. Venezuelan artists and writers, he argues, are desperate to explore new territory because their art forms have historically been limited by museums, universities, and art academies. A whale’s body is a vast ecosystem and a site on which both benevolent and evil events take place. From plankton to human bodies, the whale encompasses many changes and can set in motion powerful paradigm shifts. In keeping with this ecosystemic approach, González León mentions El Techo’s relationship to several global movements such as Dada, Surrealism, and “the California poets” (i.e., the Beats). He concludes by criticizing the small-minded critics who continue to ask the question “why the whale?” while ignoring the group’s imperative to explore the unknown, to change lives, and to transform society.

This essay is referred to as the “third manifesto” of the avant-garde group El Techo de la Ballena (Caracas, 1961-68). In it, Adriano González León (1931-2008) establishes reasons for the group’s unusual name, but González León’s poetic language indicates that this essay served as a jumping-off point to discuss grievances about the Venezuelan art world and Venezuelan politics. The text also acts as an editorial statement for the third issue of Rayado sobre el Techo de la Ballena: letras, humor, pintura/n/a (no3). A total of three issues were produced, mostly in Caracas, and all issues featured images of paintings, performances and interventions by El Techo de la Ballena as well as translated poems and writings by authors associated with the group.

González León mentions other suggestions that critics have given for a good namesake: an alligator, for instance, or at least an animal that might better flourish in Venezuela’s tropical climate. To argue for a namesake that is local and commonly seen, argues González León, is inherently provincial, and showcases exactly the kinds of cognitive limitations that El Techo de la Ballena is trying to shatter. Besides, quips González León, “it is much easier to pan-fry a snapper than a sperm whale,” indicating that the massive physical scale of El Techo’s namesake reflects the group’s desired magnitude and scope. At the end, he makes a direct reference to global capitalism and a more oblique reference to capitalism in Venezuela, arguing that a whale’s belly is capable of engulfing a tanker of oil.

González León wrote several other important essays for the group, including “Trash Investigations”, which appeared as a preface to Caupolicán Ovalles’ poem ¿Duerme usted, señor presidente?, [Do You Sleep, Mr. President?] in a book published by El Techo de la Ballena in 1962 [ICAA digital archive (doc. no. 1060234)]. His catalog essay “Homenaje a la necrofilia” [Homage to Necrophilia] for the exhibition of the same name generated a public scandal and trial against the artists (doc. no. 1097543).

El Techo de la Ballena were a group of Venezuelan artists and writers who combined different disciplines—visual arts, poetry, photography, film, performance art, among—to create interrogative and revolutionary artwork during one of the most violent decades in Venezuelan history. Guerilla warfare, far-left ideas, political repression, and problematic city planning helped create a framework for this group’s formation. In painting, sculpture, and writing, they encouraged an informal aesthetic and an ethos of aggression that was meant to combat the dominant paradigms of abstract geometry, landscape, and social realist styles. Their strategies were subversive and often incorporated Dada or Surrealist strategies. Their large editorial production encompassed at least three issues of Rayado sobre el Techo de la Ballena and many exhibitions.