In this interview, the journalist Rubén Wisotzki asks Eugenio Espinoza about Orla, the exhibition presented at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Sofía Imber in Caracas, in 1993. The Venezuelan artist believes that the exhibition was a moment for serious reflection that wrought radical changes in his work. Wisotzki contrasts what Espinoza said a year earlier against what he says today. The artist says “This exhibition is like a stop along the way for me.” They discuss the term “orla” [ornament], which they see as a reflection on the decorative nature of painting and what it means to the general public. The conversation ends with a discussion about the spiritual needs, though not in any religious sense of the word, which inspire the artist to see art as “an unstoppable current.” 

If one were to pick the most distinctive traits one could associate with Eugenio Espinoza—among the greatest contemporary Venezuelan artists—they would be the versatility of his work, his controversial ways of expressing his ideas, and the steadfastness of his commitment to art. The conversation reveals certain things about the artist; his colloquial and precise way of speaking, his black humor, and his unconventional views. Orla, presented at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Sofía Imber in Caracas in 1993, showed a significant change in his life and his work. During the interview, Espinoza admits that, within the space of a year, his idea of art had radically changed; he says he will start again despite the fact that he has always rejected decorative ideas, and then realized that it was a respected style in the history of painting. That is where the “orla” idea began. If he is indeed an enfant terrible of contemporary art, one wonders when the interviewer says: “those who think that his work seeks greater audience participation, are mistaken.” The interview presents Espinoza as a mature artist, steeped in the profound spirituality of painting: “his spirituality has been the driving force behind his recent work, a spirituality that has nothing to do with religion” (…) “it is also like being silent again; and I think that is what painting is about, reclaiming the silence of space.” The author takes an almost lyrical look at his life and work that, he is sure, “bears no resemblance to the aggression of contemporary artists.” Espinoza never loses his sense of humor; when he is asked “So, one can change just like that? Because you weren’t like this last year,” he replies “Yes you can. Why not? There are no set rules and if there were any they are there to be broken. I’m doing this because of what I used to do…”

Espinoza is one of the few artists of his generation to produce a theoretical corpus, though his writings have not appeared all together in a single publication, and are still scattered in interviews, catalogues, and newspaper articles. See in the ICAA digital archive Espinoza’s personal thoughts about conceptualism in “Accrochage y algo más” (doc. no. 866188).