About the author

I am a Venezuelan art critic, researcher and curator based in Miami, specialized in Venezuelan and Latin American art.

I studied at the Faculty of Arts at the Central University of Venezuela (Universidad Central de Venezuela) and at the Master of Contemporary Latin American Literature at Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela.

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

From 1987 to 1994 I worked at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, institution in which I developed tasks in the areas of Education, Registration and Research, and held the position of Chief Curator of the Collection of Latin American Art. I carried out there curatorships as: "Pancho Quilici. A trip to the origin"(1991), "Oscar Pellegrino. Pact with Art pact with Life" (1993), "Maria Eugenia Arria. About Light and Emptiness" and "Beatriz Gonzalez. Retrospective" (1994).

My work as curator of exhibitions also includes the shows: "Angel Vivas Arias. Rootlessness Anthology" (Art Museum of Maracay and Gallery "Warm Spaces" of Ateneo de Caracas, 1992); "Mario Abreu. Tribute to the Great Magician –1943/1992–" (Museum of Contemporary Art of Maracay "Mario Abreu", 1994); "Armando Reveron: Light and Warm Shadow of the Caribbean" (National Museum of Bogota, Colombia; Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Costa Rican Art Museum, San Jose of Costa Rica; Museum of the Americas, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia, Maracaibo, 1996 and 1997), "Diego Barboza. The feast of nostalgia" (Museum of Contemporary Art of Maracay "Mario Abreu", National Art Gallery, Caracas, and Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia, Maracaibo, 2000 and 2001); "Geometry as avant-garde" (Museum of Modern Art Jesus Soto in Ciudad Bolivar; Barquisimeto Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia and Alejandro Otero Museum in Caracas, 2001-2002); "Antonio Edmundo Monsanto and his legacy" (Foundation Banco Provincial, Caracas, 2002); "Elsa Gramcko. Geometry and Informalism"(Mercantil Foundation within the framework of the Ibero-American Art Fair, FIA, Caracas, 2004), "Synchronous. Venezuelan Young Art" (Pedro Esquerré Gallery, Provincial Center for Visual Arts, Matanzas, Cuba and Alejandro Otero Museum, Caracas, 2007-2008), "Francisco Martinez. Collective disassociations" (GBG Arts, Caracas, 2011),  "Francisco Masó. Surreptitious Stripes" (Connect Now Room, Miami, 2017), "Toña Vegas. Energy Matters" (Imago Art in Action, Coral Gables, 2019), and "Rhythms. Felix Carmelo (Imago Art in Action, Coral Gables, 2021), among others.

I acted as Coordinator of the Venezuelan exhibition in the XII Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil, 1991, and as Commissar of the Venezuelan show in the 51st edition of the Venice Biennale, Italy, 2005.

ACTIVITY AS AN ART CRITIC

My activity as an art critic is reflected in the texts of my authorship that are regularly published in national and international newspapers and magazines, such as "Papel Literario" of Diary El Nacional (Caracas), Art Nexus (Bogota), publication of which I am a correspondent in Venezuela, Arte al día International (Miami) and Artishock (Santiago de Chile) as well as catalogs of galleries, museums and cultural institutions. I also frequently participate in conferences, lectures, forums and meetings on art and literature and, as a jury, in art salons of Venezuela and Latin America.

BOOKS

• Conocer y reconocer la estampa (Knowing and recognizing prints) (Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, 1989).
• Colección de Pintura. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu. Catálogo Razonado (Painting Collection. Museum of Contemporary Art of Maracay. Catalog Raisonné) (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Maracay Mario Abreu, 1992).
• Arte en el paisaje venezolano (Art in Venezuelan landscape) (Fundación Mercantil, Caracas, 2006).
• Hayfer Brea (Colección Arte Venezolano, N° 118, Ministerio de la Cultura-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, 2008).
• J. J. Moros (Colección Arte Venezolano, N° 91, Ministerio de la Cultura-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, 2008).
• Gaudi Esté (Colección Arte Venezolano, N° 36, Ministerio de la Cultura-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, 2008).
• Francisco Narváez (Colección Arte Venezolano, N° 15, Ministerio de la Cultura-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, 2010).
• José Caldas (Colección Arte Venezolano, N° 44, Ministerio de la Cultura-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, 2010).
• Mario Abreu (Colección Espiral Arte Venezolano y Cubano contemporáneo, N° 44, Consejo Nacional de Artes Plásticas-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, en imprenta).
• Francisco Narváez (Colección Espiral Arte venezolano y cubano contemporáneo, Consejo Nacional de Artes Plásticas-Instituto de las Artes de la Imagen y del Espacio, Caracas, in press).
• El «Bolívar de Torano», Galería Freites, Caracas, 2016 (with Anny Bello). Link to the book in Spanish
• Martha Zuik sobre papel, Buenos Aires, 2018.
• Martha Zuik. Pintura y escultura, Buenos Aires, 2018.
  

CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

I have been General Director of the Armando Reveron Museum (1994-2001), the Museum of Prints and Design Carlos Cruz-Diez (2001-2006) and Alejandro Otero Museum in Caracas (2006-2008). As director of museums I did a prominent work in the areas of institutional development and in the creation, enrichment and preservation of collections.

From 2005 to 2008 I was a member of the Management Board of the National Museums Foundation.
From 2008 to 2011 I served as Deputy Director of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, having under my direct supervision the collection of works of art of that organization.

From 2014 to 2016 I worked as Project Manager of Freites Gallery, perhaps the most prestigious Venezuelan gallery and undoubtedly one of the most important ones in South America.

MEMBERSHIPS

I am a regular member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). From 2011 to 2016 I was a member of the Awards Committee of this organization in its Venezuelan Chapter.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

I worked as a professor of Latin American Art at the Academic Institute of Advanced Studies of Plastic Arts "Armando Reveron". From 1992 to 1995 I was director of  Umbrales magazine, specialized in the genre of the essay. My professional activity also includes the conceptualization and coordination of cultural events of high level, and the editorial coordination of art publications.

Interviews about my professional activity here 
Entrevista con Katherine Chacón por Fidel Gómez (in Spanish) 
Meet Katherine Chacon Art Curator 

Meet Katherine Chacon

Last updated: February, 2021.