In 1986 Venezuelan sculptor José Jesús Moros (n. 1950) presented his second individual show — the first to be held in Caracas (the previous show had taken place in Maracaibo) — this essay by Maria Elena Ramos (n. 1947) serves as an introduction of his work to the people of the capital. The curator discovers the distinctive double use that Moros implements on a geometry full of contrasts, which limits and “de-limits,” which frames and unleashes. For Ramos “the line” is essential to the virtual geometric constructions of the artist; they function not only to demarcate, but also to contain space. These lines transcend the work and project themselves into space, attacking, wounding and perforating it; the author likewise states that the complexity of Moros’ forms lends a certain baroque quality to geometry, and as paradoxical as this may seem, given that forms cease to be geometrically “pure.” In her judgment, another distinctive feature of Moros’ work is that the virtual volume substitutes the mass of the solid volume. This concept of virtual volumes changed radically, when years later [the artist] opted instead for closed volumes that contain space, rather than open volumes that simply demarcate it.
This essay represents the first phase of Moros’ production (which occurred from the beginning of the 1980s to 1990), and was characterized by the dominance of verticality, the irradiation of spatial forces, the predilection for circular form and linearity that suggest form and space. His later phase featured diametrically opposed elements to those discussed herein. [See in the ICCA digital archive the text by José María Salvador, “On Vectors and Tensors: from finite volume to the infinity of space” (doc. no. 1169332)].