Art has to get people out of their wits
Beatriz Céspedes
Panorama,
Maracaibo, Venezuela. April, 1965
To start a conversation with Oswaldo Vigas can be the preamble of a pleasant and endless colloquium.
The restless artist, who is currently exhibiting at the Fine Arts Center, responds kindly to the people that pay him a visit. During a break taken by the artist, we take a chance and approach him to have a talk.
-What do you think about the recent National Award for Painting?
-I believe it has been well granted because Hung deserves it. However this prize should be given to the entire work by the artist and not to an individual work. The award should encourage, and beyond the economic compensation, it should be a moral support, a guarantee of eternal support.
The artist inhales deeply the smoke of a cigarette and continues:
-Here in Venezuela there is a big flaw: every year we create a genius and every year we give them a kick from behind ... and tell them goodbye. There is really no concern to stimulate the artist’s career. Once the award has been given, that's all. Then ... nothing more happens. I think that's fundamental. Based on what I just said, I think all creation is development, the expression of an inner self that sometimes communicates with the selves of others. Actually, even though it seems strange, intimacy is not individual, it is collective.
We immediately asked him if he is satisfied with the reaction of the public towards his works.
-One never knows. I do not know what I paint until I finish the painting. The real artist rejects the principle of reality. He is a counter fighter. I believe that art is not made with domestic virtues. Therefore, every artist is a criminal because he does not accept the established principles.
In Venezuela the acceptance of the values of the bourgeoisie is a problem. If we accept those principles, we kill the art.
The artist continues his fascinating monologue and we do not dare to interrupt him.
-I, as an artist, live in society, but at the same time I reject it. Every artist does it. Let us not be swayed, because in the art world this is not allowed. When I painted the witches, it was something that suddenly was there on the canvas. When I won the National Prize, a lot of people requested me to paint witches for them. But for me that period was already over. I no longer felt compelled to paint those witches again. The artist is not someone that you can demand anything from, because we cannot demand anything to that unconscious “I” that dwells in every man, that is irrational; the only thing we can do is, stand by their actions and accept them.
-As for the public’s reaction: art should unsettle, not soothe. It must "get people out of their wits." There are people who like the painting of a mother with a child and want it to satisfy their need for a child. Others want a picture of a house on the beach. At the end, they don’t have the house but the work satisfies their anxiety. The public should not rely on art and on the artists.
He laughs and then goes silent for a moment.
-You deal with some more interesting aspects that if you could expand them, we would stay here overnight.
-Indeed, I would have wanted to give a talk to artists and art amateurs, but I do not have time for this. And if I continue, I'm afraid it will be very long. If people really understand what I say, I think that they will not accept my words.
-What are your immediate plans?
-I'm staying in Venezuela for a while. I have been invited by the Universidad de Los Andes to work at the School of Visual Arts. Then, I don’t know. I will maybe go back to Paris.
Unfortunately we have no time. There are a lot of people who want to talk to Vigas. We leave him, hoping to see him again soon.