Bio
Life and work
Painter, sculptor, engraver, ceramist and graphic designer. He studied primary and secondary schools in San José de Tarbes and Santa María de Caracas. In 1947 travels to Argentina and begins studies at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Buenos Aires. In early 1951 he moved to Italy, studying art criticism at the University of Rome and participates in the paint shop and drawing Jorge Piqueras. In 1953 Bogotá is set to attend the workshop and Armando Villegas. In 1956, he returned to Venezuela and works in printmaking workshop Elisa Elvira Zuloaga painting workshops and courses at the School Cristóbal Rojas. Between 1964 and 1968 he studied at the Neumann Institute, which will become a professor from 1974 to 1980 In 1966, Art Publisher publishes windows, etchings made between 1963 and 1965 In 1969 participates in "Today's Drawings and Engravings of Venezuelan Artists" in Zegri Gallery in New York and pursuing graduate studies in graphic arts in Rome.
Until now, in the work of Teresa Casanova different periods can be seen. A first step pictorial-informalista ranging from 1956 to 1961, which uses texture as expressive possibility: the works obey matéricas and natural forms. "The vegetation, bark, the forest trees, moss preparing a strange advent of large insects, dings the envelopes rain rocks, the great destruction that the machine operates in the mountains, are facts, are transmutations, which strongly impressed by the sensitivity of Teresa Casanova "(Calzadilla, 1961, sp). In a second stage, from 1962 to 1963, the lyrical theme the form structured figures from the use of collage, using oils, acrylics, and clipping. This dynamic conception of matter is extended until 1974 In 1966 performed experiences with screen printing, and the paint does not continue with the idea of collage, but the "decollage" breaking fabrics of different frames, transparent papers, leaving open holes to be achieved a second or even a third plane, in order to get another dimension. From 1962 began to experiment with the new configuration, which remain within the evocative lyrical abstractionism. The use of acrylic with screen printing technique allowed him to express his realism, as demonstrated in the exhibition "Colour Transparencies" (1967) and "Notion of sign" (1971), where the printed graphic signs prevail in plexiglass and fotoscreen that evoke certain virtual images.
Since 1976, a new chapter in the career of the artist, inscribed within the parameters of the drawing, as gestural expression; that year he exhibited at the Gallery Art / Contact (Caracas) gestualistas a series of drawings. By crayon, India ink, drawings black and white and color achieved apparently absurd forms charged with signs looking for a free interpretation. The main theme in these drawings are the planets, nature and architectural spaces. Try to find the fundamental structures as a way to reliably approach the essence of things in nature. The impressive thing about these works is their lost graphics, not subject to the rigor of the art; sample loaded intentionally absurd forms of signs. In 1972 participates in the XXXVI Venice Biennale and the Biennale Wiesembech-Frechen, Germany, and in 1975 the Contemporary Engraving Geneva (Switzerland) Center publishes his book engraving and lithography. In May 1982 the exhibition "Landscapes and silence" (MACC). "The current work of Teresa Casanova seems to have lived fully its Alternate Routes The configuration of the real, if we understand the context of landscape systems, is maintained at a level of primacy,. Perception but no longer direct, or will the simplifying dramatic high contrast used previously. now be dense, multiple, multifaceted inside combining resources for language. will predominant seduction of the visual horizon, but its constitution is the result of an elaborate process of tonal degradations formulas and diagrammed within figuration without clutter it "(Guevara, 1982). In 1983 he traveled to Paris and is represented in the exhibition "three poets of plastic space" at the Embassy of Venezuela in that city. One year after hosting a solo at the Sala Mendoza. During 1985 internships performed in workshops Dieu Donne Press & Paper Incorporated in New York, experiment with paper pulp and discover new possibilities: the role in volume gives you the experience of revealing a message on its topography, making plays with texture visual sensations of calm and of an explicit lyricism. In May 1986 exposed "Biography of a mountain" (MACC). This shows its main theme focuses on the Avila mountain, there used stems, leaves and vegetable items and textiles. In 1989 returns to the theme of Ávila in his individual "Valle cloud or mountain water" in Euro-American Arts Center (Caracas). In this sample represents the three-dimensionality with constructivism and lyrical abstraction. In 1992, the Consolidated Cultural Center exhibits "There dwells the silence", which performs the conjugation between lyrical landscape, geometric shapes and pastel hues that make entering a void, where the viewer is invited to join the world proposed by the artist. The investigation of Teresa Casanova textures evokes geologic formations, where serenity, matter and nature remain as a contribution to contemporary Venezuelan art.
Solo Exhibitions
MBA 1961
1965 Pan American Union, Washington
1967 "Colour Transparencies" XX2 Gallery, Caracas
1969 "Vision 12", Italo Institute of Latin American Culture, Rome
1971 "The notion of the sign," Conkright Gallery, Caracas
1973 Gaudí Gallery, Maracaibo
1976 Art Gallery / Contact, Caracas
1982 "Landscapes and Silences" MACC
Embassy of Venezuela 1983, Paris
1984 Sala Mendoza
1986 MACC
1989 Centre for Euro-American Art, Caracas
Consolidated 1992 Cultural Center, Caracas
1993 Museum of the Americas, OAS, Washington
1998 "Anthology 1961-1998" MACCSI
Awards
Award 1961 Andrés Pérez Mujica, XIX Lounge Arturo Michelena
1962 Special Mention, Annual Exhibition of Fine Arts, Kolkata
1966 First prize for engraving, XXIV Hall Arturo Michelena
Rotary Club Award 1967, XXV Hall Arturo Michelena
Award 1968 Federico Brandt, XXIX Official Lounge / Acquisition Prize, International Biennial of Engraving, Catania, Italy
1970 Special Mention, International Print Biennial, Cracow, Poland
Special Award Hall 1985, X Triennial International, Grenchen, Switzerland
Collections
Ateneo de Valencia, Edo. Carabobo / Noa Noa Foundation, Caracas / Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, San Juan de Puerto Rico / MACCSI / Mamja / MBA / MOMA / Museum of Modern Art, Bogotá / Museum of the City of Pescia, Pistoia, Italy / Soto Museum
Sources
Calzadilla, John. Teresa Casanova (exhibition catalog). Caracas: MBA, 1961. Cinap, C 21.
Guevara, Roberto. "Equilibria and antipodes." In: Landscapes and silences (exhibition catalog). Caracas: MACC, 1982.
Colour Transparencies (exhibition catalog). Caracas: Gallery XX2, 1967.