This interview by Aurora Blyde with Venezuelan artist Sigfredo Chacón took place in the framework of the exhibition CCS-10. Arte venezolano actual held at the Fundación Galería de Arte Nacional in Caracas in 1993. The topics addressed include the “refinement of the concept” in Chacón’s work, his interest in the connection with the art audience, and his commitment to working on the basis of clear, precise, and intelligible ideas. The interview provides information on the different stages of Chacón’s production and on the two areas in which he worked (graphic design and painting). It considers the influence—positive or otherwise—of the rationality of design on Chacón’s art.

The exhibition CCS-10. Arte venezolano actual was one of the most important events related to conceptual art, works in mixed media, and works that make use of technology, to have taken place in Caracas. Curated by graphic designer Álvaro Sotillo, the exhibition featured ten artists who had emerged on the art scene in the seventies and eighties and who, by 1993—the year this show took place—had produced solid bodies of work. The artists included were Eugenio Espinoza (b. 1950), Sigfredo Chacón (b. 1950), Héctor Fuenmayor (b. 1949), Roberto Obregón (b. 1946), and artists whose work emerged in later decades such as Alfred Wenemoser (b. 1954), Sammy Cucher (b.1958), Meyer Vaisman (b. 1960), Oscar Machado (b. 1953), José Gabriel Fernández (b. 1957), and José Antonio Hernández Diez (b. 1964). The interviews by social communicator Aurora Blyde published in the exhibition’s catalogue/ study guide provide an overview of new art from Venezuela, establishing links between generations and affinities between international and Venezuelan artistic tendencies from the seventies onwards. The interviews also place the individual poetics of each artist in the show in their career timeframe.   The interview with Sigfredo Chacón evidences that he is a “conceptual” artist in the strictest sense of the term: Chacón expressly intends to make viewers rethink the academic understanding of the “work of art” by formulating a series of questions on “the work” and on “painting.” This brief interview identifies the basic characteristics of conceptual art, among them proposing the work as “energy” and as “trigger” of reflection. From a technical standpoint, conceptual art entails producing work that does not attempt to be painting or sculpture, but rather to formulate ideas about those languages and their traditional roles. For the other interviews by Blyde with the artists featured in the show CCS-10. Arte venezolano actual, see “Por la seducción de ver [interview with José Gabriel Fernández]”  at the ICAA digital archive (doc. no. 864393); “De las cenizas petrificadas por el tiempo [interview with Oscar Machado]” (doc. no. 864755); “Irreflexiones, reflexiones y flexiones [interview with Héctor Fuenmayor]” (doc. no. 864715); “Sammy Cucher: entrevista: haciendo notas del inconsciente [interview with Sammy Cucher]”  (doc. no. 864676); “Para hacerle ofrendas a la muerte [interview with Roberto Obegón]” (doc. no. 1097592); “Ficción sobre ficción: [interview with Meyer Vaisman]” (doc. no. 1051228); “Entre el orden histórico y el caos emocional [interview with Eugenio Espinoza]” (doc. no. 864696); and “En la búsqueda, pero sin querer buscar [interview with José Antonio Hernández Diez]” (doc. no. 864736).