CCS-10. Arte venezolano actual was one of the most important exhibitions ever presented in the field of Venezuelan conceptual art, non-object-based art, and the use of mixed media and technology in Caracas. Under the inspired curatorship of the graphic designer Álvaro Sotillo (b. 1946), the event involved ten emerging artists from the 1970s and 1980s who, by the time of the exhibition in 1993, had established themselves with a solid body of work. The artists were: Eugenio Espinoza (b. 1950), Sigfredo Chacón (b. 1950), Héctor Fuenmayor (b. 1949), Roberto Obregón (b. 1946), and others who emerged later on: 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 conducted by the journalist Aurora Blyde and published in the catalogue/study guide for the exhibition provide a broad overview of current Venezuelan art. Blyde’s articles help to identify influences from one generation to another, and see affinities with Venezuelan and international movements since the 1970s. They also help to place (in time) the artists’ individual poetics and key moments in their careers.
Espinoza is one of the most influential artists of his generation, who has written art criticism and important catalogue essays and articles. His brief conversation with Blyde reveals his profound intellectual curiosity and shrewd ideas. This article conveys a sense of his weighty, succinct thinking and his interest in language, which he uses to express conceptual ideas with the same passion he pours into his art. Coincidentally, Dama de noche, the work that Espinoza showed at CCS-10, consisted of an enormous advertising screen featuring short phrases spelled out in neon lights that captured the humor and irony of daily life and included plays on words.
Regarding Aurora Blyde’s other interviews with artists who participated in the CCS-10. Arte venezolano actual exhibition, see “Jugando a atrapar el espacio [Entrevista con Sigfredo Chacón]” [doc. no. 864412]; “Por la seducción de ver [Entrevista con José Gabriel Fernández]” [doc. no. 864393]; “Para hacerle ofrendas a la muerte [Entrevista con Roberto Obregón]” [doc. no. 1097592]; “De las cenizas petrificadas por el tiempo [Entrevista con Oscar Machado]” [doc. no. 864755]; “Irreflexiones, reflexiones y flexiones [Entrevista con Héctor Fuenmayor]” [doc. no. 864715]; “Haciendo notas del inconsciente [Entrevista con Sammy Cucher]” [doc. no. 864676]; “Ficción sobre ficción [Entrevista con Meyer Vaisman]” [doc. no. 1051228]; and, finally, “En la búsqueda, pero sin querer buscar [Entrevista con José Antonio Hernández-Diez]” [doc. no. 864736].
