VISITORS; VISITORS VIEW EXHIBITS; FOUR PAINTINGS; SEMI-ABSTRACT FIGURES; GEOMETRIC DESIGNS; 'OP' ART PAINTING; PLASTER RELIEFS; PAINTINGS; METALLIC RELIEFS; ABSTRACTS; PAINTINGS; GUESTS CONFER.




Initials IF/VS/JF/SC



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Background: QUITO, THE CAPITAL OF ECUADOR, HAS ALWAYS BEEN RENOWNED FOR THE PLASTIC ARTS - A TRADITION WHICH COULD BE SAID TO STRETCH BACK TO THE AGE OF THE INCAS. THE ECUADOR SOCIETY FOR ARTS AND CULTURE RECENTLY DECIDED THAT THEIR ARTISTS WERE NOT RECEIVING THE PUBLICITY THEIR TALENT DESERVED, AND CONSEQUENTLY PROMOTED THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF TWO-YEARLY EXHIBITIONS DEVOTED TO THE ARTS.

THE EXHIBITION, WHICH OPENED ON 1ST APRIL, HAS WELCOMED ARTISTS FROM SEVERAL SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES - VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, PERU, CHILE, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, AND ARGENTINA AMONG THEM, AS WELL AS ECUADOR. A TOTAL OF 312 PAINTINGS - NEARLY HALF OF THEM FROM ECUADOR - ARE FEATURED, AND INDICATE THAT SOUTH AMERICA IS VERY MUCH AWARE OF CURRENT ARTISTIC MOVEMENTS.

ABSTRACT ART PREDOMINATES, AND WHERE NATURALISM DOES OCCUR IT IS VERY OFTEN WORKED INTO AN ABSTRACT WHOLE. THE APPARENT INFLUENCE OF SEVERAL EUROPEAN PAINTERS SHOWS ITSELF, PARTICULARLY OF THE DADAIS MOVEMENT, AND THERE IS ALSO CONSIDERABLE INTEREST IN THE VISUAL CONUNDRUMS OF 'DP' ART, AN AMERICAN INHERITANCE. EXTREMELY CHALLENGING ARE THE RELIEFS - A SERIES OF WORKS IN PLASTER BY BOANERGES MIDEROS BRING THREE DIMENSIONS TO DALIESQUE CONCEPTS. AND THERE IS ALSO THE REWORKING OF TRADITIONAL THEMES AND TECHNIQUES, THE CRAFT OF METAL BEATING BEING INCORPORATED INTO ABSTRACT FORMS.