The interview of the Venezuelan artist Alirio Palacios (b. 1944) by Alberto Valero in Warsaw provides interesting data in terms of his training in the field of graphic arts and poster design. It even offers a broad view on the education in this medium that he received while in Poland at the time and on its graphic tradition. Palacios acknowledges this aspect by pointing out how he incorporated it into his background. He had traveled to Warsaw in 1968, returning to Venezuela after the interview. Palacios returned to Europe to continue his studies in engraving in Geneva (1973), and a year later, he returned to Poland to study the mezzotint process, this time in Krakow. Poland was of great importance in his development as an engraver, a fact emphasized by Valero. The artist states in the interview: “What I am doing now is the fertilization of an education that came to express itself with greater freedom and more beauty.”
On the other hand, if his education in China contributed to his appreciation of white and black, Poland instilled in him the use of color ink, the sumptuousness of paper, and the secrets of woodcut printing. Palacios acknowledged the poster as an artistic expression of great relevance. Polish graphic design nourished him with its elegance, with the refinement of its fonts, therefore learning to design a poster “keenly.” In other words, to make use of drawing and engraving, instead of easily using photography. He stresses: “If you can manage to say what you want with your own hands, that poster will be stronger and more solid.”
[As supplementary reading, see in the ICAA digital archive the essay by Igor Molina “Alirio Palacios. El arte de la violencia” (doc. no. 1155701), which highlights his training in engraving in Poland and in China; Lenelina Delgado’s article “Alirio Palacios: El Estado tiene la responsabilidad del futuro del Centro de Diseño” (doc. no. 1155596); the texts by Olga González “Mezzotintas de Alirio Palacios. El final del aprendizaje gráfico” (doc. no. 1156997) and “Regresa a sus país uno de los grabadores más importantes de América Latina” (doc. no. 1155203); the text in English by Julie Kruger “There’s Another China” (doc. no. 1155219); the article by Yasmín Monsalve “Soy un gran aliado de mi país. Alirio Palacios expone xilografías en la Freites” (doc. no. 1155733); and the interview by Edith Guzmán “Alirio Palacios se propone rescatar el grabado milenario de la China” (doc. no. 1155809)].