Published in Re-vista, this article by José Hernán Aguilar reviews the editions of the Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales (XXVIII) and the Salón Atenas (VI) that took place at the end of 1980. In a text that is more analytical than comparative, Aguilar chooses some of the works included in the shows, and makes observations about each of them. Interestingly, Aguilar uses theoretical references to back up his comments and provide context for the creative projects he discusses. The narrative structure that the author employs is of interest as well; it consists of a brief introduction with short phrases that the author then expands on in the twenty-six footnotes to the text.

Colombian art critic José Hernán Aguilar (b. 1952) employs a peculiar strategy in his overview of the two exhibitions. In a brief text, he describes the characteristics of the events and specifies five of what he calls “methodological and arbitrary qualities: seriousness, longing, raininess, darkness, and novelty” found in both shows, especially in the projects discussed in the extensive footnotes to the text. Indeed, it is in these footnotes that the author’s critical vision of the works is developed.  Aguilar does not discuss the fact that the Salón Atenas was a new event—this was its sixth occurrence—whereas the Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales had a history of longstanding. Significantly, the seventies were not good years for the Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales, which meant a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the event organizers and also on the part of the artists who submitted work. Indeed, the Salón Nacional was cancelled for a number of years and did not reopen until 1985. (See Eduardo Márceles Daconte, “XXIX Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales: De todo como en botica,” El Espectador (Bogotá), October 13, 1985.)  The eighties in Colombia witnessed experimentation in the visual arts, with an interest in giving shape to new artistic languages, many of which then flourished as the nineties drew near. Aguilar himself characterizes the works he discusses as independent expressions geared to changing how art is made and how it is understood. All of this was accomplished without losing sight of what was going on internationally in art at that time.  Works by Beatriz Jaramillo (b. 1955) and María Consuelo García (b. 1953) were given awards at the XXVIII Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales, and exhibited at the Museo Nacional de Colombia in 1981. Jaramillo’s piece was an audiovisual work entitled Zócalo [Baseboard] and García’s was an installation of puppets entitled Juego No. 1 [Game No.1]. The VI Salón Atenas, shown at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Bogotá in 1981, granted first prize to Sara Modiano (b. 1951) for Proyecto 1 [Project 1], for an installation made “with elements taken from popular architecture.”Aguilar is a historian, theorist, and art critic. In the eighties, his incisive texts appeared in publications, such as the newspaper El Tiempo and the magazine Arte en Colombia. He has also taught in the art and film departments of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá.