IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 5 ENGLISH | Page 140

nothing, imaginary and recreated signs
that manipulate Socialist Realism’s political propagandistic language, and Art
Deco style figurative elements that can
be read as abstract painting via a recrea-

tion suggestive of Futurism and Russian
Constructivism: abstract heroes with
gigantic medals on enormous altars,
producing a visual narrative of ironies
and counter ironies.

Glexis Novoa, 1989. Practical Installation
Period

ational traditions: he defecated on a
newspaper right in the middle of one of
the exhibit rooms. Some thought he did
it in this way so as not to contaminate
the floor; others thought he did it intentionally, on the Communist Party’s official newspaper. He got a six-month
prison sentence for ‘disturbing the
peace,’ and thus turned himself into an
artistic event—“Prisoner Art 1242900.”

The era’s dramatic swan song (it
seemed to be ending) was the “El objeto
esculturado” [The Sculptured Object”
exhibit, on May 4th, 1990. It was organized by the Center for the Development of the Visual Arts (CDAV). Despite it having been accepted and seen,
not without some prejudice, it was suddenly cancelled and then reopened after
the censors determined which works
should be shown. This all happened
because of an unexpected, spontaneous
performance by a fourth-year student,
Ángel Delgado, at the Instituto Superior
de Arte (ISA). He based his provocative, artistic act on the Dadaist and situ

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling
down and the Socialist Bloc disintegrated, the instability and despair of the left
joined the unbalanced political and economic situation, and increasingly and
dramatically impacted the situation:

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