This article was published in El Nacional (Caracas, August 11, 1996), on the day of the opening of Mercedes en el Museo Sacro. Obras recientes de Mercedes Pardo in this institution. This anonymous text points to a dual reading of the exhibition’s title: “it enounces a fact, and it recognizes an attitude,” paraphrasing the words of the directors of the Galeria del Sacro, Iván Correa and Sol Bendayán. Both are also quoted in the article to acknowledge Pardo for showing her work in an institution that is still very new. The artist is described as one of the pioneers of Venezuelan modernism who opened national art to “contemporary universal art.” The exhibition is said to mostly consist of her 1996 production, including paintings and screenprints.

The article presents the exhibition Mercedes en el Museo Sacro. Obras Recientes de Mercedes Pardo (Caracas, August 11–September 15, 1996), held in the Galeria del Sacro, the exhibition space of the institution. Mercedes Pardo (1921–2005) created the twenty-four works on view (fourteen paintings and ten graphic works, 1987–96), although most of the works are dated 1996. It also included works previously shown at the GAN (Galería de Arte Nacional) in her 1991 retrospective, Mercedes Pardo: Moradas del Color. Her work is introduced by the press as interior search, plastic investigation, and relationship with its spectators.

The title “Fear and Tremor in Search of an Intimate Transcendence” reflects the author’s numerous allusions to the sacred quality of Pardo’s work according to the article. It refers to her work as a “communion of soul and forms under the color spectrum.” The only work that is mentioned in the article, El Gran Triptico, is clearly chosen for the traditional association of triptychs to religious art. In fact, the unknown author has an in-depth knowledge of an existential and religious reading of Søren Kierkegård in his book Fear and Tremor; so that he applies its focus to Prado’s philosophical approach. This comes in opposition to other articles that review the same exhibition, where the focus is granted to the artworks that Pardo created for her grandchildren, only mentioned for their “playful” qualities. Pardo explained the connection of her work to the venue since the Museo Sacro is located in one of the few places of the old Caracas that remained intact, it was originally an Episcopal School, founded in 1888. After it was declared a National Historical Monument in 1981, it underwent significant restoration. The building stands on the site of the ancient cemetery of the Caracas Cathedral (1673–1872).

[For other articles on the Museo Sacro exhibition of Pardo’s work, see in the ICAA Digital Archive: Gustavo Jaén, “El azul y más allá” (doc. no. 1331004); Virginia Minaya, “Soy pintora existencial y de pocas galerías” (doc. no. 1331020), and Yasmin Monsalve, “Vivo la pintura siempre, ese es mi modo de ser” (doc. no. 1331036). For further detail on Mercedes Pardo: Moradas del Color, see Gloria Carnevali, “El Espacio en la pintura de Mercedes Pardo” (doc. no. 1102285); María Fernanda Palacios, “Pintura y vida” (doc. no. 1102253); and Miriam Freilich, “El arte es revelación, no producción” (doc. no. 1325266).]