This interview by Blanca Elena Pantin (b. 1957) with German-born Venezuelan artist Miguel von Dangel (b. 1946) explores the essential religious facet of von Dangel’s production. Much of von Dangel’s work entails the symbolic expression of a higher or transcendent order bound to God, nature, and the mythology of the Americas—all of which his art brings together in a heterogeneous composition that partakes of the spiritual values of Europe and the Americas. The religiosity the artist expresses is as vehement as it is tormented; the contents of his motley discourse are steeped in uncertainty and contradiction. In this interview, von Dangel describes his work as a “testament” to apocalyptic times—an idea that critic Francisco Da Antonio put forth in relation to von Dangel’s work as early as 1972.
[For other critical texts on von Dangel’s work, see in the ICAA digital archive María Luz Cárdenas’s essays “La Batalla de San Romano de von Dangel (I) y (II)” (doc. no. 1154028 and doc. no. 1154092, respectively), both published in 1990; Julio Ortega’s foreward “La iridiscencia del ojo de la materia o cómo leer un objeto artístico procesal” (doc. no. 1155251), published in 1997; Axel Stein’s “Interview with Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1102348), published in English in 1998. See as well Yasmín Monsalve’s “Mi obra ha tenido que luchar contra muchos prejuicios: un premio nacional visto con la luz de Petare” (doc. no. 1102125); Elsa Flores’s “Miguel von Dangel: la respuesta latinoamericana (I)” (doc. no. 1155150), “Miguel von Dangel: la respuesta latinoamericana (II)” (doc. no. 1154906), and “Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1056044); Ruth Auerbach’s essay “Hoy, el paisaje es aquí y ahora” (doc. no. 855314), published in 1996; María Josefa Pérez’s interview “Miguel von Dangel: No creo el cuento de que Reverón era loco” (doc. no. 1154012); María Cecilia Valera’s interview “Entrevista con Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1154060); Víctor Guédez’s article “Lo barroco y lo simbólico en la obra de Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1154124); Aurora Blyde’s interview “Lo trascendente de lo cotidiano: conversación con Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1101950); Enrique Viloria Vera’s “Miguel von Dangel: La conservación del paisaje americano” (doc. no. 1154827); Lourdes Blanco’s essay “Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1097326); Juan Carlos Palenzuela’s prologue to the show De engaños y otras lidias (doc. no. 1154044); Francisco Da Antonio’s prologue to the show Cristos (doc. no. 1154108); Juan Calzadilla’s “Miguel von Dangel” (doc. no. 1102109); and Francisco Márquez’s “Miguel von Dangel y la Batalla de San Romano” (doc. no. 1101604), and the untitled essay [“Miguel von Dangel. Tres aproximaciones hacia el paisaje venezolano…”] (doc. no. 1154076)].