The Museum of Modern Art presents the exhibition Oswaldo Vigas

The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal), through the Museum of Modern Art (MAM), a venue that makes up the Inbal Museum Network, present the Oswaldo Vigas exhibition. Look inside, which explores, 100 years after the birth of the plastic artist, fundamental works of his prolific career, as well as his intellectual interests, in dialogue with other Venezuelan, Latin American and European creators of the time.

This exhibition is curated by Carlos Palacios, with the collaboration of the Oswaldo Vigas Foundation. It will be open to the public at the Museum of Modern Art until February 11, 2024.

The exhibition brings together pieces from different African and South American cultures, as well as around 110 works by 27 artists belonging to the MAM collection and from collections of public and private institutions, among which are Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Thea Segall, Carlos Orozco Romero, Wifredo Lam, René Portocarrero, Joaquín Roca Rey, Carlos Mérida, Francisco Matto, Lilia Carrillo, Pierre Alechinsky, Oswaldo Guayasamín, Rufino Tamayo, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and Elsa Gramcko, among others.

The exhibition highlights the artist's pioneering vision, in which he reflects his attention to his country, its inhabitants and its popular culture. Vigas found in the material manifestations of his pre-Hispanic history and in indigenous cultures, legends and myths, a map that guided all of his pictorial work, from the late 1940s until his death in 2014, becoming one of the most important painters. important pieces of Latin American art of the second half of the 20th century.

Looking inward is divided into three cores. In the first, In Search of the Primitive, a brief tour of the cultural references and artistic manifestations of an ethnographic nature from Africa and America, as well as pre-Hispanic Venezuelan art, are fundamental sources for the development of the artist's later work. Looking at Venezuela, the second nucleus, reviews in a deeper and clearer way the influence of pre-Hispanic art and the indigenous groups of Venezuela on the painter's work. It is evident how local popular traditions and beliefs, such as the Dancing Devils, by Yare or María Lionza, become central motifs in his painting.

In the last core, Latin America and the local: time of myths and magic, various European and Latin American artists are reviewed who, like Vigas, use fiction, myth and the idea of a magical time to express their reality.

The inauguration will take place on Thursday, October 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Museum of Modern Art, located on Paseo de la Reforma corner Gandhi s/n, first section, Bosque de Chapultepec.

Oswaldo Vigas

(1923 Valencia, Venezuela – 2014 Caracas, Venezuela) He was one of the most prominent modern Latin American artists who actively helped shape the cultural life of his country and who, at the same time, played a key role in the Parisian art scene between 1952 and 1964.

Profusely inspired by the origin of life, the Venezuelan landscape, its history and its mythology, Vigas chooses the vocation of painter, basing his work on a series of styles, such as cubism, surrealism, constructivism, informalism and neofiguration, all of them applied in a very personal way. Driven by his search for his mestizo identity, he always remained faithful to his own convictions, which ultimately led him to develop his own authentic artistic image. His work encompasses painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics and tapestry.

Carlos Palacios

Venezuelan art curator and critic residing in Mexico since 2010. He has a degree in art history from the Central University of Venezuela and obtained a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in art history and criticism from the University of Barcelona and has a Master's degree in Curatorial Studies by the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, New York.

Oswaldo Vigas Foundation

The Oswaldo Vigas Foundation, a non-profit institution, is dedicated to promoting the creative production of Oswaldo Vigas by encouraging research into his work, life, reflections and sources of inspiration. The foundation's objective is to preserve, promote and maintain a selection of the artist's work collected and accessible to public institutions, curators and writers.

The Museum of Modern Art is located on Paseo de la Reforma corner Gandhi s/n, first section, Bosque de Chapultepec.