The journalist Margarita D’Amico, a researcher in the field of communication and the art of “new media,” was one of the most enthusiastic promoters of Venezuelan conceptual artists. She wrote a column—Sí y No—in the Sunday edition of El Nacional where she published critical reviews of important events and artists, occasionally allowing some of them to fill almost the entire column with their own news.
D’Amico’s September 30, 1979 column is of interest because it was about three important artists, each one with a different idea, in the field of Venezuelan conceptualism [Claudio Perna (1938–97), Rolando Peña (b. 1942), and Eugenio Espinoza (b. 1950)]. Perna’s idea, El domo de Armando Reverón, expresses his belief that art is about communication; aside from its message, the letter he addresses to the President of the Republic is constructed, in both a visual and a formal sense, as an art object. Perna’s project is an ecological and artistic undertaking that designates a strip of coastal land between the towns of Anare and Camurí, on the Central Coast, as the “domo Armando Reverón”. This designation would expand the limits of Reverón’s domain, his home and studio, known as El Castillete in Macuto. Perna sees it as a tribute that will preserve and polish the image of the “master of light” for future generations.
D’Amico then discusses one of the most versatile artists in Venezuela, describing Peña and his many creative fields (theater, movies, ballet, contemporary dance, video, performance art, and other artistic languages). Later in her article, after mentioning Peña’s exhibitions in the United States and Europe, the journalist wonders when there will be a grand exhibition of his work in a Venezuelan museum. D’Amico takes the final few lines of her article to review the video Supporting idea; concluding idea, made by Espinoza at NYU (New York), whom she considers “one of the most talented young conceptual artists.” This article underscores Espinoza’s important position in the field of Venezuelan contemporary art.