”Venezuelan Witches” Paintings. Oswaldo Vigas Oils
“Andres Bello” Auditorium, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
May 17 – May 31, 1967
Inter-American Development Bank Staff Association
The IDB Staff Association takes pleasure in inviting you to attend the opening of the exhibition of paintings by Oswaldo Vigas of Venezuela, to be shown in the "Andrés Bello" Auditorium on Wednesday, May 17th, 1967. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m., which will be attended by the artist.
Oswaldo Vigas is one of the most distinguished contemporary Latin American painters. Born in Valencia, Venezuela, in 1926, he studied print making at the Ecole de Beaux Arts of Paris, where years later in 1958 to 1960, he held the post of Cultural Attaché of the Venezuelan Embassy in France. Now Cultural Director of the University of the Andes in Merida, Venezuela he has won in past years eleven international and national first prizes. From 1943whenhe first exhibited in the Ateneo of Valencia, to the present, he participated in seventy seven expositions in various parts of the world, twenty two of these being one-man shows. In 1954, the Museum of Modern Art of Paris sponsored an exhibition of the murals painted by the artist for the University City of Caracas. In the same year, the Smithsonian Institution of Washington D.C. sent a traveling exhibition of VIGAS' works around the United States, and in 1955, he participated in the Sao Paulo Bienal.
Various institutions in South America, the United States and Europe, such as the National Library of Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, Texas, the Museum of Cartagena, Colombia and the Museum of Fine Arts of Caracas, have examples of the artist's work in their permanent collections, and his paintings are also found in many private collections.
The Staff Association of the Inter-American Development Bank wishes to thank VENEZUELAN INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS (VIASA) for its cooperation that permits us to present this exhibition in Washington, D.C.
"Nuestro Continente está poblado de señales y advertencias oscuras. Signos telúricos, magia o exorcismos son componentes hondos de nuestra condición. Al mismo tiempo que nos revelan, estos símbolos nos sitúan y comprometen dentro de un mundo de efervescencias inquietantes.
Pocos pintores sud-americanos se han acercado a descifrar este submundo. La intención de mi pintura es llegar hasta él, interpretarlo y traducirlo en nuevas advertencias."
“Latin America is a land of mysterious signs and portents. Magic and exorcism are deeply rooted in our ancestral being. They reveal our essential nature and are also a clue to our place and involvement in an age of disquieting ferment.
My artistic intention is to reach this sub-world - which few South American painters have ever approached - and, by interpreting its symbols, arrive at new insights.”
Oswaldo Vigas. Mérida, Venezuela. April 26, 1967