‘Caracas Moderna’ Exhibit Showcases Venezuela Art And Architecture At Wright Gallery
A new exhibit of paintings of Venezuela’s modern architectural environment by artist Marian Ichaso Lefeld opened Sept. 18 and continues through Oct. 26 at Wright Gallery.
Hosted by the Texas A&M College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts and the School of Architecture, “Caracas Moderna” showcases 15 paintings and one video of Lefeld’s work. It is an homage to the resilience of a nation that she said experienced “profound transformations and diaspora in the 21st century.”
Lefeld, who will give an artist talk on Oct. 26 at 1:30 p.m., followed by a closing reception, is an instructor in the art department at Dallas College where she teaches studio art and art appreciation classes. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and has shown her work in Caracas, Amsterdam and Buenos Aires.
Rebecca Pugh, instructional assistant professor and Wright Gallery curator, said Lefeld’s artwork expands on Venezuela’s history.
“Marian’s abstract paintings are not only beautiful, but they also reference the artist’s unique perspective, background and ideas surrounding architecture in her home country,” she said. “Her exhibition on campus provides visitors, in particular students, a great opportunity to learn how abstraction may be used to communicate ideas and tell autobiographical stories.”
Lefeld, a native of Lecheria, Venezuela, spent much of her adolescence growing up in the country’s capital, Caracas. At age 12 her family moved to the city surrounded by mountains, and Lefeld said she was in awe of its density.
“It was such a shock going from the freedom and natural landscape of Lecheria to later move to a ‘jungla de concreto’ or ‘concrete jungle,’ where everything happens,” Lefeld recalled. “Caracas was full of traffic and dynamism. It was like an attack on my senses.”
The city was impacted politically and architecturally by an oil boom that began in December 1922, when a geyser in western Venezuela showered oil for nine days. The country has the largest oil reserves in the world.
“Growing up, the common narrative centered on Venezuela being a rich country,” she said, “When it’s not, because there has been such a resource mishandling. Also, I took inspiration from where my father arrived after leaving his war-torn country of Spain in 1950. My father encountered the offering of the Latin American dream because, at the time, Venezuela offered incredible opportunities.”
That provided a connection to the architecture of Caracas, Lefeld said. Despite the country’s wealth, resources were mishandled and politicians became corrupt, shifting the socioeconomic landscape, she said.
“The dream of Venezuela was ending, and the vast majority of the population sought answers in the form of a socialist/communist regime,” she said. “Despite these profound changes, the country remains beautiful even in the midst of its chaos.”
As a homesick teenager, Lefeld would miss school and ride the subway downtown. She recalled sitting at the window, watching as the views of residential and office buildings, theaters and shops passed her by.
“The architecture incredibly influenced me,” she said. “I didn’t have the vocabulary to know this architecture was modernist. I had no idea these strident, saturated colors were characteristic of Venezuela’s architecture.”
It was in these moments that she found inspiration for her art. Lefeld visits Venezuela once a year and has collected photos for reference in her work, but she said she often relies on memory when she paints.
Lefeld chose oil paintings to amplify the impact oil had on her country. Some are in black and white, which are most recent, while others are painted with bright colors.
“The color red responds to a common theme of the revolutions that happened in Venezuela, and I adopted red to represent communism in some of the paintings,” she said. “The video shows historical footage of the construction of some of these midcentury monuments and provides context to the paintings. There is the oil rig painting ‘Barroso II,’ the only narrative of the massive oil explosion.”
The beauty in architecture provides an enduring sense of place, Lefeld said, which motivates her passion for painting. She said she hoped viewers of her work can reflect in their own experiences.
“What can you take from this and how can you relate to your landscape?” she said. “Where is the setting of your life, where everything aligns, where you feel safe? Mine is Caracas — how about yours?”
Top photo: Among the pieces featured in “Caracas Moderna” are, from left: “Ponti’s Villa Planchart,” 2023, oil on canvas; “Dynamic Oil Tower,” 2023, oil on canvas; “Nuetra (Sister Painting 1),” 2021, oil on canvas. Photo by Rebecca Pugh.
