In this interview, journalist Héctor Muñoz presents Mejía, winner of the Salón Nacional, as an emerging figure who, despite a lack of formal academic training, was granted a major prize. Indeed, at the beginning of the interview, Muñoz places emphasis on that lack of training to provide a framework for an artist who, though a promising young talent, had not enjoyed much recognition in the country. The interview sheds light on the opinions of an artist that, pursuant to the prize, was receiving the attention of the public and those knowledgeable about art. Mejía voices his view of classic topics like art as beauty, revolution in art, and what an artist needs in order to create. The interview also explores Colombian and Latin American painting, in which Mejía was well versed due to having lived in Europe from 1959 to 1964.
Significantly, the journalist steers the interview towards regional topics rather than focusing on Mejía’s neo-figurative work. There are two possible reasons for this: the journalist may not have been familiar with Mejía’s art, its formal concerns, and history; he may, on the other hand, have mistrusted what many journalists called the “novel and unique” work of this artist from Cartagena.
In any case, the journalist does not delve into the pictorial universe of an artist—Mejía—who was just beginning to gain recognition. He chooses, rather, to address more general topics that do not provide a full understanding of Mejía’s complex personality or views of art.