Omar Carreño
A founder of expansionismo in Venezuela, a member of the Dissidents group in France, and a winner of Venezuela's Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas award, Omar Carreño passed away last May 11th at the age of 85.
Carreño was born in Porlamar, state of Nueva Esparta, in 1927. From an early age he showed an interest in painting and drawing, and after finishing high school he moved to Caracas and studied at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Aplicadas and at the Taller Libre de Arte; it was in the latter that his first exhibition was held, in 1950.
In the 1960s, Carreño resettled in Paris, expanding his education at the Ecole de Beaux Arts and in seminars at the College de France. He also studied archaeology, museography, and art history at the Ecole du Louvre. After returning to Venezuela, he was commissioned by architect Carlos Rivera, as part of Rivera's "Major Arts Synthesis" project, to create a polychrome work for the Dental School, and left his artistic mark in the murals that cover the school's walls.
In 1966, Carreño founded the Expansionista group and became one of Venezuela's most relevant visual artists, a pioneer of geometric abstraction. Six years later, in 1972, he received the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas.
Besides the many exhibitions dotting his career, Carreño represented Venezuela at the 36th Venice Biennale.
His works are included in important exhibition spaces in Venezuela, such as the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, the Museo de Bellas Artes, and the Fundación Galería de Arte Nacional (FGAN), among others. Carreño leaves behind an indelible contribution to kinetic art in Venezuela.
