delfin 80 years

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80 YEARS

Essay and Chronology:

EMILIO TARAZONA


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Several aspects of Vctor Delfns (1927) visual

oeuvre reveal that his creative path and life journey

seem dened by a tenacious combative streak. Thisfriction is generated by not always being compatible

with or accommodating towards the world. At timesthe artist withdraws or maintains a cautious distance.At other times his convictions drive him to make theworld and the society that makes it up materialto be molded by will and action, be it individual or

collective.

These movements withdrawal and actionare not contradictory in his work. They imply anequivalent reaction against adversity, with its share

of struggles and tests of personal convictions. Per-haps it is reconciliation akin to that established byhis work early on, in tune with some of the globaltrends of the 60s, between avant-garde ar t and the

recognizable influence of Peruvian popular art,

A WORLDOFMETALANDFORGESSKETCHANDTOUROFVCTORDELFNSWORK.

Emilio Tarazona


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Ten centuries of slow incessant

artistic recreation stretch out between

the medieval retablos and Vctor Delfns

retablos

Carlos Rodrguez Saavedra


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which at the time was still wrongly associated with

traditionalism of a substantially different character.But also reconciliation between activities of great

social relevance that today appear difcult not to seeas complementary moving freely between estheticsand politics, personal sphere and public space.

Currently his presence as an artist is still markedby a measure of reticence, revealed by a personally

accepted distance from Limas most visible galleries,

which has lasted for a few decades now. During thistime, however, he has not ceased to produce. Hehas created resonant monumental pieces installed

in plazas and parks and held major exhibitions incities abroad as well as in Perus provinces, including

Arequipa, Piura, Talara and Cuzco. Perhaps this is

a gesture of mutual indifference and the result ofa clash with the more rened taste of the capitalpervading the cultural scene that once welcomed

him. Nonetheless, this has not caused him to looseinterest in other issues inevitably linked to it, includingpressing current issues. Thus, his commitment tocreative liberty has lead him to tirelessly defend

democracy and human rights in the most difcultand decisive moments of the crisis and collapse of

Perus most recent dictatorship.

This study aims to offer a brief overview of his

work in its widest sense, highlighting some prelimi-nary thoughts that also enable us to understand the

different contexts and circumstances related to it.

Creativity as craft and passion

Delfn was the youngest in a poor family pro-

vided for by the fathers salary as a welder in Lobitos,

a shing village turned oil enclave in the Province ofPaita, Department of Piura. As a boy Delfn wouldwatch his father, the blacksmith, who was in chargeof a workshop that repaired colossal ten-meter drillbits used in the wells. () I would always watchhow they put them in the re to repair them I wasobsessed, he commented in an interview granted

in 19921.The rst home, that world of metal andforges, which the artist remembers as a mesmerizing

visual stimulus, is recognizable as an early experience

shaping his artistic calling. Moreover, it is clear thatthis environment has even molded his preference for

certain conditions of work and production. From thelate 60s through the 70s, especially, his own work-shop operated like a factory with several workmenand operators working hard by his side.

1 MASCARENHAS, Magali. Vctor Delfn. Artista. Soy un hombre feliz, pero esono me impide ver la tragedia de la vida. In: Cosas, n 18. Lima: December 21,

1992, pp. 12-13.


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This recollection also unveils the origin of

his penchant for monumental sculpture, metal and

re. This points to a kind of restitution of matterthrough art, breathing different life into it through

pieces, which have characterized him since the late

70s, created from industrial machinery bought as

scrap metal at La Parada or Tacora Motors. Thosewere also the years when he made statements that

seem characteristic of the ideals expressed by the

most pragmatic and technocratic Futurism, ()machines are inherently beautiful in their func-

tionalism. Each contribution made by a machine hasa function, therefore they are breathtakingly beauti -ful. There is nothing fairer than, for example, seeinga mechanical shovel in action or every component

of a tractor quivering in unison.2

Nevertheless, already from 1945 while he wasstudying painting at the National School of Fine

Arts (Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes - ENBA),

it became clear that he coupled this efcient per-

2 See: ORMEO, Lupe. Los monstruos de Delfn. De Tacora Motors a las galerasde arte. In: Estampa (Expreso supplement). Lima: October 25, 1970. No wonderthen that, as reported by a journalist around that same time, some of his metal

pieces still carry visible marks identifying their origin (such as the John Deere trac-tor companys name on some of them). In another interview the artist adds, ()they say machines are the enemy of man, but I suffer and feel bad if I dont hear

my drills working. See: MASSEY, Peggy Good morning / Buenos das. In: LaPrensa. Lima: October 29 1970. And, also: AGUIRRE NIETO, Marisa. VctorDelfn virtuoso del hierro. In: La Imagen (La Prensa suplement). Lima: November1,1970, pp. 12-13.


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Vctor Delfn enriches our universe

with a ock of dream birds imagined bya metal poet

Claude Couffon


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This was the starting point for the artists afnitywith Perus southern Andean region. He visitedand drew inspiration from every fair and regional

exhibition he came across. Shortly after, upon takingup leadership of the regional ENBA in Ayacucho, a

similar bond was consolidated with this region.

Towards 1962 Delfn moved to Santiago in

Chile where he organized a Peruvian popular art

exhibition at the then recently opened Providen-

cia Cultural Institute. He stayed on there for a timeteaching at the Providencia and Las Condes cultural

institutes. Distance did not, however, lessen his in-terest in his countrys art forms. During this periodhe even visited folk artist fairs in Huancayo togetherwith Vctor Cravacho. The latter, a critic, commented

on a Delfn exhibition at the Libertad gallery afterthis trip and in Delfns cubist inuenced canvaseswhich insinuate afnities in form with some of his

painting is consolidated in Peru. This process is lead by the Agrupacin Espacioand painters such as Enrique Kleiser and Fernando de Szyszlo. These are also theyears of Manuel A. Odras dictatorship (1948-1956). Delfns teachers included thesculptor Joaqun Roca Rey and the painters Carlos Quizpez Asn and Alberto Dvi-

la and even Ricardo Grau in the rst years. None of them, however, left as muchof a mark on the artist as Apurimak, which Delfn himself recognizes in writingin 1983, You, sir, belong to that special category of artists who appear from timeto time expressly to awaken other artist, t o guide them, encourage them, confrontthem () You, Apu-Rimak, I also see as a spokesperson for the past, as a guard-ian of that inextinguishable ame, which is Indigenous Americas fabulous legacy.Reprinted in: [n/a]. Muri Apurimak artista y maestro. In El Comercio. Lima:

August 31, 1985, p. C8.


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They reacted with an explosive manifesto against it

and staged a landmark parallel exhibition of their

own work, which to this day is considered a key mo-

ment of consolidation for Perus 70s avant-garde7.

Thus, the group Ar te Nuevo was born. It orga-

nized an exhibition in what a few weeks earlier had

been nothing but a dilapidated house on Jr. Cara -

baya in Limas old city centre. They transformed,

remodeled and fashioned it into a gallery giving it

the evocative name El Ombligo de Adn (Adams

Navel)8. Delfn created an enormous PVC pipe muralthere installed directly onto the wall and on opening

7 This was a two-page document writte n as an open letter and distributed on the

streets by the Arte Nuevo group. It diagnosed internal irregularities and not onlydid it question the legitimacy and transparency of the Festival, it exhorted all art-

ists to boycott it. Furthermore it called for future festivals to be organized by adifferent entity capable of showing artists and art more consideration, () IAC,which acts as a promoter of avant-garde art, has generated a climate of mistrust

in the local art world, because of its lack of serious commitment towards younglocal artists (), in our eyes it is therefore the antithesis of what an Institute ofContemporary Art ought to be, (). These are the unyielding claims made in thedocument, which points to the fact that Peruvian artists only received invitations

to the Festival a week before the deadline for presenting the documents requiredto participate. Only one artist, Fernando de Szyszlo, was the exception to therule, but he, as a founding member, had close ties to the institution. See: ARTENUEVO. Con respecto al Festival Americano de Pintura y el Instituto de ArteContemporneo. Lima: Mimeo, 2 pp. (Maniesto). For further information onthe Arte Nuevo group refer to the following study that is to be published shortly:LPEZ Miguel and Emilio Tarazona Arte Nuevo y la vanguardia. A propsitode una revuelta en las artes visuales de los aos Sesenta. Lima: 2006, ms (unpub -lished).

8 In addition to Vctor Delfn, the group was made up of: Luis Arias Vera, TeresaBurga, Jaime Dvila, Gloria Gmez-Snchez, Emilio Hernndez Saavedra, Jos

Tang, Armando Varela and Luis Zevallos Hetzel.


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night an unusual happening was staged by the actor

and playwright Felipe Buenda9.

Later the exhibition was partially transferred to

the Lima Art Museum and both the groups successive

exhibitions would become a referent. They were laterpinpointed by the Peruvian critic Juan Acha as having

ushered in avant-garde in Peru as well as the, emer-

gence of a new mentality in Peruvian plastic arts10.

From his workshop and home, then located inthe Bajada de los Baos in Barranco, Vctor Delfnin those years embarked upon an ongoing parallelexploration of new materials. He designed andassembled pieces in polychrome acrylics, pipes and

aluminum angles generally used to produce lightdisplays clearly echoing the esthetics of the geo -metric and minimalist currents of the time. Yet hedid all this without interrupting his personal rework-ing of contemporary folk and popular art.

One of the main distinguishing features of

Delfns work is that in the context of experimen-

9 See: TARAZONA, Emilio. Accionismo en el Per. Rastros y fuentes para una pri-mera cronologa. Lima: ICPNA, 2006. p. [16]-17.

10 See its annual assessment published as: Las artes visuales In: El Comercio. Lima:January 1, 1967.

talism, which at the time was mainly focused on art

styles, systems and institutions and would lead to

a crisis of representation and an ensuing widening

of the material possibilities of production in plastic

arts, Delfn also took it upon himself to ensure thecontinuity of a creative current socially subordinated

to the current proclaimed as art by modernist ide-

alism11. Both Peruvian folk and popular art were atthe time beneting from signicant disseminationthrough government bodies, such as the Cultura y

Pueblo magazine promoted by Jos Mara Arguedas

as director of the Casa de la Cultura. Nevertheless,even during the 60s and much of the 70s a tacit

disassociation persisted, which relegated the latter

almost exclusively to the scope of social sciences

especially Anthropology rather than concrete

esthetic approaches that were reserved for the domi-nant plastic arts.

Only towards the mid 70s did the issue come

to the fore on the cultural scene as an impasse. Someartists and intellectuals associated with the Peruvian

Association of Plastic Artists (ASPAP) viewed it as

11 Mirko Lauer highlights a series of argumentative strategies that have establishedsupposedly universal criteria of value to assert its domination over the plastic arts

of contemporary pre-capitalism, usually known as popular art or folk art. See:LAUER, Mirko. Crtica de la artesana. Lima: Desco, 1982.


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inappropriate to equate ne art and popular art.12

Vctor Delfns work is an integral part of the very

context in which this dispute arises. Already in 1967the local art scene found it convenient to divide

his production into two different arbitrary and in-

consequential categories13. The artist, however, has

insisted on not taking this distinction onboard and

trivializes the difference made by others, () folkart, sculpture whatever you call it, its quality work

he said in 1970 I make artifacts and I dont care

12The event that years lat er would spark a erce debate about what de nitely wasa singular problematic area was the award of the National Prize for Culture to

Joaqun Lpez Antay in late 1975. He rece ived the award for his lifes work pro-ducing imaginative retablos. This lead to public controversy about the similaritiesand differences between so-called popular art and so-called universal art. Thisdominant segment of plastic arts has been labeled in many ways, including neart or academic art, which are as emblematic and imprecise as the ones used as

converse labels, namely, popular art or folk art. This implies the possibility of re -placing the former labels with a new category: unpopular art. Such categorization

would not only highlight the stubborn insistence on differentiating this area of

production from its subordinate relatives, but also the plain and simple differencein the level of interest they generate from a strictly statistical, or demographic,

perspective.

13This even leads to his work being simultaneously exhibited at two major galle r-ies La Artstica and Art Center. Only a single printed document links these twoexhibitions, in a manner that speaks volumes of how the art scene, at the time,mechanically disassociated part of his production. It found it, () convenient toexhibit [his work] separately () because it is one artists two different ways ofexpressing himself: One belonging to a folk art type recreation related to popularart and, the other, to seeking the avant-garde. In: Delfn. Lima: Galera La Artstica

Art Center, November 1967. (Exhibition catalogue). However this dichotomyis erased by a review of the pieces showcased at each gallery where retablos orreliefs and even applied arts or utilitarian objects, are included without distinction.Symptomatically, this exhibition was held only a month before the artist was award-

ed First Prize in the category of Contemporary Folk Art at the Folk Art Biennial,organized by the Folk Artists Association and held at the Lima Art Museum. Theaward for Traditional Folk Art went to Lpez Antay at the same Biennial. See: [n/a]Bienal de artesana. V. Delfn, verdadero maestro de la ar tesana contempornea.In: La Prensa. Lima: August 30, 196 7, p. 18.


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h h l l h f lk l Th D lf h h f d b b f


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whether people class them as folk art, sculpture oravant-garde pieces.14He underlined it again in 1971,I dont understand the difference between art and

folk art. () I believe it to be of no consequence, Idont care whether I am categorized as a folk artist,as a sculptor, as a painter.15

That very year he consolidated his presence onthe local scene with exhibitions such as Bestiary,

at the IAC, and Signs of the Zodiac, at the Lima

Art Museum in July and December 1968, respec-

tively. His work, considered by the local art worldas polar, earns him recognition from all sides, none-

theless, albeit in different contexts. The same issueof the magazine Informe, from September 1971,

reports on Delfns outstanding parallel participation

at the III Folk Art Biennial, held at the Lima Art Mu-seum, and the XI Sao Paulo Biennial, where he was

invited to participate and in a solo room presented

fourteen large-scale sculptures with bird motifs in

polychrome metal.16

14 See: AGUIRRE NIETO, Marisa. Vctor Delfn virtuoso del hierro. In: La Ima-gen (La Prensa supplement). Lima: November 1, 1970, pp. [1], 12-13.

15 MLAGA, Oscar. Vctor Delfn en la Bienal de Sao Paulo. In: Informe, year 4,n 57. Lima: September 30, 1971, p. 64. (Interview).

16 See: La cultura en la quincena. Bienal de artesana. In: Informe, ao 4, n 57.Lima: September 30, 1971, pp. [62]-63. It should be mentioned that the piece pre-sented by Delfn at the III Folk Art Biennial was a chess set, once ag ain indicating

Thus, Delfn was at the heart of a debate before

it even arose. With his personal approach he nippeda potential chasm between these two forms of plas-

tic arts production in the bud. Following Lauers laterargument, these distinctions do not seem to empha-

size material aspects of the objects, the process of

creating them or the catalog of subject matters and

how these are approached, thereby relegating the dis-

cussion about the domain in which these differences

come into sharp focus; the conditions in which these

pieces circulate and their forms of social existence.17

The continental fight

Vctor Delfns view on production, balking atthe canonic image of artists as secluded from the

workings of society, is the driving force behind

his notable expansive and monumental spirit. Thisperspective of the workshop as a business andthe artist as a worker unveils the foundations ofdecade-long work discipline. Ever since his initial

his utilitarian bias. Furthermore, he does not consider the pieces sent to the IX SaoPaulo Biennial merely contemplative. In an interview with Oscar Mlaga he men -tions that he intends to relate these pieces to urban space in some public park,()I want sculptures to work, I want them to participate one way or the other, especial-ly in the world of children. It moves me to see a child climb one of my sculptures.MLAGA, Oscar. Vctor Delfn en la Bienal de Sao Paulo. MLAGA, Oscar.Vctor Delfn en la Bienal de Sao Paulo. In: Informe, year 4, n 57 (Op. Cit.). Thehighlight in bold type is not part of the original.

17 LAUER, Mirko. Crtica de la artesana. Op. Cit. p. 25.


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with crude elements, with loose pieces of iron for


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, p

mechanical use dumped in illegal markets. They seemto be of an endless variety and without deforming them

he welds them and gives them unexpected meaning

in his sculptures, because that is what we must callthem, a reporter would write while highlighting the

artists commitment to restoring something that has

lost its function to a different function.19

In this same spirit of restoring what has been

abandoned, in 1970 he undertakes the reconstructionof an old and ruined turn-of-the-century Tudor style

house threatened with demolition. He imaginedthat, once he had restored and tted it out, it wouldbecome a space that is always open to culture. InOctober the artists Casa-Taller (Home-Workshop)was inaugurated and became meeting point, gallery

and lodgings for other artis ts. With this Vctor Delfnassumed, without respite, the task of promoting artin all its forms20.

19 C.L. Crtica de arte. El zodiaco de Delfn. In: El Comercio. Lima: December, 181968.

20The purchase and restoration he undertook received signicant support from somecompanies that joined the artist during the months of hard persona l work and sacrice.Regarding the proposal of an open dynamic space announc ed by Delfn, a journalist

commented at the time, Precisely because bending iron, which he usually does, takesknowing how to bend selshness. Delfns house in Barranco is living testimony to hisopenness to others and to the old ideals instilled when hard times, poverty and troubles

ate into the esh and soul. See: [n/a] Hospedaje Taller y Galera para artistas ofrecenueva casa de Delfn en Barranco In: La Prensa. Lima: October 16, 1970.


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From then on this would be a place not only them Delfn consolidated his interest in representing


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for exhibitions and recitals, but also conferences

and cultural encounters, there were even projects to

delegate the creation of a library, having concerts,

administrating a small-scale lm club and a designatedarea for theater. Even though many of these initiativesfaded in time, Delfn himself would be the backbone

of organizing events there. In December 1970, twomonths after its opening, he organized a Contemporary

Folk Art Fair together with the Barranco local council.He received the artists in his home and offered thema workshop where they could produce the pieces theywould present in the district plaza.21

Around this time Delfns work went on a series ofexhibitions abroad. An expansive period commencedwith two virtually simultaneous exhibitions in the

Arte de Ayer y Hoy gallery in Caracas and the MiamiMuseum of Modern Art for which he received

great critical acclaim. He showcased a considerablenumber of medium and large-scale sculptures in

pieces of metal newly assembled from scrap and

remains of metallurgical pieces during 197022. With

21 See: Feria artesanal hay en Bar ranco. In: Ojo. Lima: December 9, 1970.

22 Fifteen sculptures in Caracas and seventeen in Miami even if other sources statethat they were twenty-two were the starting point for a much larger series of works,

which Delfn would exhibit in the following years in different Latin American cities.

winged bipeds in a series he would later call Aves de

Amrica (Birds of Amrica), succinctly linking thework, its origin and destiny

One of Delfns great qualities is that he aims to

make what others presume to be improbable possible

and even feasible. Fitting but incredible circumstanceseven lead the artist to tour vast expanses of Latin

America by air with this specic series solid, massivepieces together weighing several tons. Birds thatseemed condemned to wings clipped by weight tookoff in aircraft, including ones belonging to Braniff

International, which ew them to Quito, Guayaquil,Bogota, Panama City, San Jose in Costa Rica, Santo

Domingo, Barranquilla, Caracas and Havana. Several ofthem were left behind in the countries visited so the artist

had to produce new ones to ll subsequent scheduledexhibitions. Observers, such as Bernard Davis, of theMiami Museum of Modern Art, commented that the

Delfn must have had detailed knowledge of zoology,because his pieces were so full of vitality. 23The seriesseems to focus on a repertoire of specic species ofbirds common to the Amerindian peoples. Furthermore,

23 In: Vctor Delfn. Miami Museum of Modern Art. Miami: December 1970 Janu-ary 1971 (Presentation of the catalogue).


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I make artifactsand I dont care whether

people class them as folkart, sculpture or avant-

garde pieces

Vctor Delfn


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they transmit certain coat-of-arms-like characteristics,which have perhaps grown rare in humankind.


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which have perhaps grown rare in humankind.

The artist displays a broader reper toire then the

already enormous variety of birds on the continent,

in Claude Couffrons lyrical words, he shows us, ()imaginary birds, the ones that y in his head and that

his hands model, the ones we will only nd in hisoeuvre; unnamed birds with sharp claws for new

mythologies, aggressive or peaceful winged forms,

unusual plumage for the eyes dream journey24. Eventhough one may glimpse the presence of a quetzal, a

humming bird or a hoatzin, a cardinal, a burrowing

owl or a turkey buzzard.

Back in Lima after this Latin American tour,towards the late 70s, Delfn put up more exhibitions

abroad than in Perus capital. Towards the 80s hereturned to sculpture creating pieces in cement, in-

cluding the work known as Dove of Peace placed infront of the Apostolic Nunciature on Av. Salaverryin 1985. He also resumed his thus far relegated voca-tion as a painter and displayed some paintings in June

1986 at the Editorial Concepts gallery in Miami.

24 COUFFON, Claude. Sobre las aves de Vctor Delfn In: Aves de Amrica. Lima:Casa Taller Delfn, December 19, 1975 January 5, 1976 (Catalogue).

In 1992 he designed the public monument today

widely known as The Kiss. The sculpture originallyleave messages to lovers he met by chance near the

Parque Neptuno, Parque de la Exposicin, Parque de


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y p g yentitled Los amantes en el acantilado (Lovers by the

cliff) takes center stage, as of 1993, in the so-calledLove Park, on the Miralfores districts seafront. Withthe sea as its backdrop and forever on the edge of theabyss, like love, the park was conceived as a place of

freedom for lovers no longer willing to wander darkdesolate streets, out of shyness or modesty. It wasconceived as a celebration of love, a place encouraging

encounters, affection and the expressions of men and

women oblivious to restraint. There will be owersfrom Ayacucho so it has a real aire cholo. Leteverything come together poetry, sculpture, nature

and landscape! Bring lovers out of hiding! Let them

no longer be persecuted as criminals by the police

asking to see their IDs! It is absurd, it is denying a

force of nature! enthused the artist about his project,months before it was put up25.

Already between July and September 1970,

with the intention of criticizing this persecution or

censorship by public authorities, the artist Rafael

Hastings had undertaken to distribute yers and

25 MASCARENHAS, Magali. Vctor Delfn. Artista. Soy un hombre feliz, pero esono me impide ver la tragedia de la vida. In: Cosas, n 18. Lima: December 21,1992, pp. 12-13.

q p , q p , q

la Reserva and Campo de Marte openly supporting

their acts. Under the title Todo el amor, this anarchicstageless staging involved the couples themselvesas elements of a eeting work of art in which theywere both the main characters and () the silent

representatives of a political, economic and socialsituation, (), according to the artists own state-ments.26

In its fteen years of existence Delfns sculpturehas brought together people from different social

backgrounds. It is the backdrop for courtship andmass weddings, a must-visit for lovers on a stroll

posing for pictures or a video, which they will keep intheir family albums after the wedding. It also drawsthrongs of lovers from all areas of Lima celebrating

Valentines Day each February 14. It has becomea popular landmark for tourists and limeos, eventhough it is not so well-loved by many of the people in

the district and its surroundings. Like a strange islandthese characteristics have made it one of the least

miraorino spaces of all of high-brow Miraores.

26 HASTINGS, Rafael. Todo el amor In: Oiga. Lima: (around June-July), 1970, p.31-32.


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It is an ostentatious urban enclave, an antidote

countering discrimination and fostering encounters,


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tolerance and diversity in a district where these have

not always characterized some of the establishments

and night clubs.27

Art hand in hand with freedom

The proximities and frictions generated bymonuments such as Los amantes en el acantilado are

accentuated when the artist becomes involved with

more visible domains of decision-making and socialcontrol or at least domains that are not as obscure aspublic administration of areas assigned for intimacy. Inearly 1995 Vctor Delfn began regularly and tenaciously

criticizing and protesting against tensions caused by

the government as well as violations committed by it.In March that year he organized a Caucus for Peace

bringing together Peruvian and Ecuadorian artists

and writers. It was held on the border between bothcountries, before the Cenepa War broke out. Months

27 Encounters, tolerance and diversity in the widest of senses. The Love Park is oneof the most visit ed places each Valentines day and over the last years the Peruvi-

an TLGB Network (transvestites, lesbians, gays and bisexuals) stages an act therecalled Love doesnt discriminate, which consists in several of its members going

there with their partners to put up placards and kiss in public next to the het -erosexual couples there. On several occasions they have received warnings fromcouncil ofcials for this action. Furthermore, a recent example of discrimina -tion, in this case racial, by some establishments in Miraores involved the discosPhuket and Mama Batata, which were ned by Indecopi due to this charge in June2007.

later, in June that year, he wholeheartedly joined the

outcry and protests of citizens rejecting the so-called

l hi h d i i l I

Peru faced social and political upheaval in the

late 90s and the rst years of the new millennium. InM h 2000 D lf dd d l h


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amnesty law, which amounted to an impunity law. Itfreed from any responsibility and punishment tried

and jailed members of the paramilitary command and

death squad denominated the Colina Group, which

had murdered innocent people in the Barrios Altos

and La Cantuta cases.

It was not until 1997 that there was a clear

break between Perus citizens and its government,manifested in protests and marches against the re-

moval of the Constitutional Court magistrates, who

were blocking the application of a law that enabledthe then president to run for a third consecutive

term in ofce. From then on Delfns Casa-Tallerbecomes a hub for coordination and strategic meet-

ings between groups of university students as well as

human rights organizations. It was where they drewup many initiatives against Alberto Fujimoris au-

thoritarian government. It was also where the groupLa Resistencia was formed. Delfn was part of thisgroup, which opposed the regime peacefully, but

constantly and vigorously, with symbolic acts as well

as by convening the voice of civil protest and takingit the streets. 28 DELFN, Vctor. Carta abierta a la juventud peruana. El n del fujimontecinis -

mo. In: La Repblica. Lima: March 23, 2000, p. 5.

March 2000 Delfn addressed an open letter to the

young Peruvians who also rejected the government

in marches, he encouraged them, but also warned

them of a looming struggle against the dictator re-

taking power. In the letter the artist looks back at the

violence aficting Peru over the previous decades,These have been terrible times for all Peruvians:armed strikes, car bombs, blackouts, Fujimoris self-coup, detentions, disappearances, universities seized

by the forces in uniform. In this context you, theyouth of today, grew up, exposed, in a country

governed by the law of the jungle.28

Considering that the artist in his earliest years

of training penetrated the Peruvian jungle like a

settler in inhospitable lands, this last phrase is sur-

prising. For Delfn, nature, even when ferocious orwild which he exalted, for example, with the ani-mals in his Bestiary from 1968 is a cordial world, amodel of admirable strength and integrity. Whereaspast governments had, in contrast, turned, before

his very eyes, into a g rotesque ridiculous fauna of


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the Civil Society Collective.31A quick glance at this de-cisive year, 2000, left people incredulous: Fujimori wasre-elected, the most impressive and large-scale mobili-


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p g

zation in Perus republican history was unleashed, the

mechanism used by his government to dismantle de-

mocracy in Perus powers of state was disclosed and

he ed Peru and resign as president from a shameless

exile in Japan. After this, a lengthy extradition processbegan. Its success seemed imminent, but still under-way, while these lines were written. The artist himselfwas, along with other citizens, wounded by the impact

of a tear bomb during a milestone demonstration on

Perus National Day, July 28, the Marcha de los Cuatro

Suyos (Four Corners March).32

An emblematic canvas painted by Delfn during

those terrible and ominous years captures the spirit of

31 Toppling a dictator is usually not the result of a single masterstroke, but rather theslow but determined construction of democratic consensus in each sector of civil

society. () A disruption of public awareness, which is also the awakening of themost intimate individual conscience. BUNTINX, Gustavo. Lava la bandera: ElColectivo Sociedad Civil y el derrocamiento cultural de la dictadura de Fujimori y

Montesinos In: Quehacer n 158. Lima: Desco, March 2006.

32This demonstration was planned as a peaceful march. It was, however, rudely op-pressed by the dictatorship, which even went so far as to detonate several public

buildings in an attempt to accuse those participating in the demonstration of ter-

rorism. The blasts left six murdered National Bank security guards. The site wherethe bank used to be located was left in ruins up until a few years ago, and then astele with a piece by Delfn was put up in memory of the victims of that painful day.

That day a tear bomb was launched directly at Delfns face, it hit his right ear and

caused serious injuries. See: DELFN, Vctor. EL criminal apunt a mi cabezavi que la cpsula vena hacia mi rostro. In: Liberacin. Lima: August 1, 2000, pp.14-15. (Testimony).

struggle felt in the streets. In that painting a group ofpeople represent civil society wielding sticks againstdark soldiers of the Assault Unit. The artist has painted


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himself into the crowd, like Delacroix, who in theseminal painting that signaled a removal from past

referents and the pressing irruption of the present

in the history of modern art includes himself next

to an emancipating female archetype making her waythrough the fallen. In unrelenting irony the artistplaces, in the background of the painting, a posterfrom 1997 that reads, Lima Plaza Mayor de la Cultura

Iberoamericana (Lima Main Square of Iberoamerican

Culture), which in the midst of the commotionseems like an ironic celebration of a barbaric state,but also seeks to generate friction with a structure ofcultural events taking place on the margin of urgentinitiatives to denounce this barbaric state.33

This was a milestone in Vctor Delfns com-

prehensive approach to his oeuvre, which he has

never subedited to the visual aspect. For Delfn, art

33The poster features a painting by a renowned local painter, Fernando de Szyszlo,

and it was used to promote the Festivals in Lima in 1997, prior to the announce-

ment of the Biennials held in Lima that same year and in 2002. To the other side,as in silent dialogue, the artist has placed a sequence of self-adhesives made by the

artist Eduardo Villanes, which was put up around the city and featured the image of

a Colina Group member with obliterated eyes and an ID number, reminiscent of

a mug shot. These are two complex contexts of contemporary visual and culturalproduction in the midst of a reality that always exceeds them.

has always been part of a greater social and politi-

cal machinery made up of operators and workers indifferent areas. Only together with everyone else canh h i h h ld k l d


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they re the engines that should procure knowledge,culture and education as indispensable sources of

action and freedom.

Lima, June, 2007


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Everything is useful:Stones, shreds of glass,

machine parts

Vctor Delfn


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The pieces of metal used by Vctor

Delfn live beyond the form in which they

are arranged, which is mere coincidence,

what matters is Vctor Delfns work, pureartisan creation, more engaged in life than

in dreams

Mirko Lauer


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What a triumph it is to breed

a whole fauna and ora fullof contrasts, but monumen-

tal in the formless entrails

of such despised particles!

In matter, what spirit!

Jorge Basadre


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1927Vctor Delfn was born on December 20 in Lobitos,

Piura.

1943Moves to Lima.

ria Gmez-Snchez, Emilio Hernndez Saavedra, JosTang, Armando Varela and Luis Zevallos Hetz el, withwhom he opens an inaugural exhibition at El Omblig o

de Adn gallery and, subsequently, at the Lima Art Mu-

seum.

1967

CHRONOLOGY


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1945Accepted by the National School of Fine Arts (ENBA)

in Lima.

1953Interrupts his studies at the ENBA and settles in TingoMaria.

(around) 1956Resumes studies at the ENBA.

1958Graduates from the ENBA with a degree in painting.

1959Awarded the Ignacio Merino National Prize for Painting

for a painting entitled: Homenaje al Obrero de Construc-cin Civil (Homage to the Construction Worker)Appointed director of the Puno School of Fine Arts.

1961Directs the Ayacucho School of Fine Arts.During these years he visits many folk art fairs in differ-ent provinces of Peru.

1964Moves to Santiago in Chile, where he teaches art at the

Providencia and Las Condes cultural institutes.

1965Returns to Lima.Sets up his workshop in the Bajada de los Baos, inBarranco.

1966Exhibits a rst series of his Retablos at the Art Centergallery.Around October he founds the group Arte Nuevo

with Lus Arias Vera, Teresa Burga, Jaime Dvila, Glo-

1967In August he is awarded First Prize in the category of

Contemporary Folk Art at the Folk Art Biennial held atthe Lima Art Museum and organized by the Peruvian

Folk Artists Association, chaired by Carlos Bernasconi.The First Prize for Traditional Folk Art goes to JoaqunLpez Antay from Ayacucho.Creates pieces in plexiglas (acrylic) and aluminum. Fiveof these pieces were bought by the Pasadena Museum,

California, during a visit by members of the interna-

tional board of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

in New York.

1968Participates in the 3000 years of Peruvian paintingexhibition organized by the Jueves Cultural Association.Creates a retablo for the Mara Reyna Church in San

Isidro and an acrylic mural for the Pilsen Callao brew-

ery.In July he inaugurates his Bestiary exhibition at the Insti-

tute of Contemporary Art (IAC).

In December he inaugurates his exhibition entitled TheSigns of the Zodiac, at the Lima Art Museum.

1969In February he opens his Cabezas Clavas (Stone

Heads) exhibition at the Ancn Festival.In October the Tambo de Oro restaurant and folk artfair was opened and he sculpted a piece for it entitled

Allegory of Popular Art.

1970Exhibits applied art pieces at the Lima Art Museum with

the sponsorship of ADELA Investment Company S.A.In October he opens his Casa-Taller (Home-Workshop)in Barranco, restoring a Tudor style house threatened

with demolition.

In December he organizes a Folk Art Fair in Barrancoand opens his home and workshop for the participatingartists.Late in the same year he exhibits almost simultaneously

at the Arte de Ayer y Hoy gallery in Caracas and theMiami Museum of Modern Art.

1971In September he participates in the XI Sao Paulo Bien-

i l b i i i f h di f h O

1974In April he designs a set for the play The Can Opener

by Vctor Lanoux, which was staged in Lima by the Los

Cuatro theater company from Santiago in Chile.In May he is awarded the Peruvian Cross of Military

Merit in the Grade of Knight.A special 500-copy edition of the book Deln 10 years64 74 was published in Guayaquil under the auspiceof Humberto Mor.

1979In January he inaugurates the exhibition Iron and

bronze at La Galera in Quito.

1980Around May he exhibits at the Art and Culture Center

in Florida.In September the new headquarters of the Industrial

Construction Bank (BIC) is inaugurated and it openswith an in door exhibition of a monumental sculptural

1985In January he installs a white dove as a tribute to the

visit by Pope John Paul II. I t is a publ ic sc ulpture onthe Av. Salaverry in front of the Apostolic Nuncia-ture.

1986In June he exhibits a collection of pictori al pieces at the

Editorial Concepts gallery in Miami. In December heinstalls a monumental piece in the Plaza of Technical


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nial by invitation from the director of the event, Oscar

Ladman. He sends 18 metal sculptures enameled inbright polychromatic lacquer.That same month he is a special guest at the III Folk

Art Biennial.1972In May he opens his rst individual exhibition in Brazilat the Chelsea gallery in Sao Paulo.Together with the Swiss-Peruvian artist Francisco Mari-

otti he produces a triptych sculpture entitled El Sol la

luna y el arco del cielo (The Sun the moon and the arc in

the sky), which they shortly after exhibit at the ColtejerBiennial.In September he opens his exhibition entitled Stoves

and chimneys at his Casa-Taller in Barranco.Around November he creates a mural sculpture at the

new RTT (satellite station) facilities in Lesive, near Am-

beres in Belgium.

1973In March he inaugurates the Sheraton Hotel in Lima,the pinnacle of modernity in Peru at the time. He in-stalls a set of luminous lamp metal sculptures there.Commences his rst series of Birds of America. Acollection of 12 is exhibited in Lima at the IV meet-

ing of the Consultative Commission of the ILO

Inter-American Conference held at the Sheraton in

Lima. They were subsequently sent to the VI Paintingand Sculpture Biennial in Zaragoza, Spain and 8 were

bought by the Zaragoza council for installation in a

public park.In December he inaugurates two allegorical murals for

the entry to the Peruvian Military Academy in Chor-

rillos.

A documentary about Delfn produced by Procine and di-

rected by Carlos Ferrand and Pedro Neira is completed.In August he opens an exhibition of reliefs, second se-

ries of Birds of America, at the Lima Art Museum.The pieces were later exhibited at Oswaldo Guayasamns

Inticori gallery, located in his house in Quito.

1975In January he inaugurates an exhibition of his thi rd series

of Birds of America at Colombias National Museum.This is the starting-point for an extended Latin Ameri-

can tour with this exhibition, alternated with returns to

Lima. In Costa Rica he exhibits at the National LibrarysJulin Marchena Gallery and in the Dominican Republic

at the Santo Domingo Museo del Hombre.In December he showcases a series of small-scale pieces

in ceramics, wood, aluminum and silver at his Casa-

Taller.

1976

In May a retrospective of his work opens in Arequipa atthe La Compaa Cloisters sponsored by the Arequipaofce of the National Institute for Culture.In September he opens an exhibition of scul ptures and

drawings at La Galerie in Bogota.

1977Creates 21 life-size animal sculptures in brass sheets and

exhibits them in October and November at the Bacardi

Art Gallery in Miami and New York.

1978In April he exhibits a collection of his works at the LimaSheraton celebrating its fth anniversary.Shortly after he also exhibits tapestry designed by him

and produced by the Clisa carpet company.

with an in-door exhibition of a monumental sculptural

relief by Delfn.In December he exhibits a collection of folk art piecesand jewelry in iron, bronze, gold and silver.

1981Participates in the 3000 years of scul ptures in Peru exhi-bition at the Lima Art Museum.

1982Signs a two-year exclusive representation contract with

the LElan Vitale INC gallery in New York.By invitation from the Mayor of Piura, Francisco Hilbck,he commences a monumental sculpture entitled Peace

Dove for the Piura city Civic Center. After some criti-cism the piece was left unnished until 1995 when theCultural Pictorial Passage was inaugurated.The German critic Selden Rodman publishes his study:Artists in tune with Their World. Masters of popular Artin the Americas and their relation to the Folk Tradition.In December he exhibits at the Architect Associations

Art Gallery in Pichincha, Ecuador.1983In October he participates in the I Trujillo Biennial as a

guest artist.

1984In June he presents a sketch of a mosaic for the DanielAlcidez Carrin Socio-Cultural Circle (CESCDAC) at

the Trujillo National University. In September his workis included in the exhibition The Avant-garde of the 60s

curated by Gustavo Buntinx for the Miraores TownHall Gallery.That same month one of his pieces is included in the

permanent exhibition of the legendary Chelsea Hotel inNew York.

installs a monumental piece in the Plaza of Technical

Cooperation within the headquarters of the National

Service of Occu pational Training in Industry (SENA-

TI) on the occ asion of its 25th anniversar y.

Over the following years he alternates living in Limawith regular visits and short stays in New York City.

1990In March he is awarded the Artistic Palms by the Minis-

try of Education for his contribution to popular art.

1992In October the installation of his monumental sculp-

ture The Kiss and remodeling the so-called Love Parkin Miraores begin.

1993In February he inaugurates his sculpture in the Love Park.In July he begins the long process of decorating the in-

teriors of the T hree Crosses Temple located next to the

Mercedes Basilica in Paita.Around December he inaugurates a retrospective exhi-

bition at the Luis Antonio Eguiguren Cultural Complexin Piura with 40 pieces brought up from Lima.Designs a sculpture on the mother-child theme for the

Childrens Park ine esa ciudad.

1995On March 1 he travels to the border to participate

in the Caucus for Peace bringing together Peruvian

and Ecuadorian artists and intellectuals rejecting the

threat of conict between these two countries. Oswal-do Guayasamn, Jorge Enrique Adoum, Jorge Pedro

Vega and Carlos Caldern Chico participat ed from

Ecuador; Vctor Delfn, Arturo Corcuera, Leslie Lee,

Enrique Polanco and Edmundo Pantoja participated

from Peru.

Participates actively in the protest marches against the

Amnesty Law.Founds and chairs the Civic Movement against Impunity

with Francisco Soberon, general Rodolfo Robles (ret),

Washington Delgado and father Gustavo Gutierrez.In September the Cultural Pictorial Passage in the Piura

city Civic Center was inaugurated with his pieces.Around December he commences a monumental piece,

an allegory of sheries and maritime resources in

Participates in the Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos (Four

Corners March) and is injured by a tear gas bomb

launched directly at him by the police.Publication in Ecuador of the book Delfn. Pictorialand sculptural oeuvre.Exhibition of a collection of sculptures and paintings

at the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatorianas Guayasamn gal-

lery.


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an allegory of sheries and maritime resources, inChimbota at the junction of the Pan-American Highwayroundabout and Av. Industrial.

1996In February he produces a series of g raphic pieces based

on Huamn Pomas drawings, including a chronicle ofthe Fujimori regime denouncing its corruption and au-

thoritarianism with great irony.

1997Participates in the protests against Alberto Fujimoris

dictatorial government.Around September he organizes painting a mural on the

facade of Channel 2, Frecuencia Latina, defending free-

dom of expression.Takes the rst steps to establishing the La Resistenciacollective with which he starts a series of symbolic dem-

onstrations rejecting the g overnments authoritarianism.

1998Creates a monument for the Los Cndores roundabout

in La Molina.Receives an invitation to participate in celebrating the

50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights at Palacio Chail lot, Paris.

2000In February he is decorated Ofcer of the National Or-der of Merit by the Ecuadorian government.One of his pieces is featured on a poster for an event

organized by several citizens associations at Campo de

Marte.

2001Exhibits at the Modern Art Museum in Cuenca, Ecua-

dor.

In April he creates a monumental piece as a tribute toTupac Amaru I I for the Capilla del Hombre in Quito,Ecuador.In July he organizes a day of protest in front of the

Japanese Embassy in Lima demanding Fujimoris extra-

dition.Decorated as Commander of the Order of the Sun by

the Peruvian Government.Becomes chair of the Peruvian Association of Visual

Artists (Aspay).In September he is appointed President of the National

Commission for Culture.

2002Awarded the Bernardo OHiggins Medal by the ChileanGovernment.Produces a sculpture on Plaza Peru in Santiago in

Chile.In December he inaugurates the exhibition In black andwhite, with pieces by Leslie Lee, Roxana Cuba, Vctor

Delfn and Ana Mara Ortiz, all members of the group

La Resistencia, at the Petro-Peru Gallery.

2003One of his pieces is included in the Generation of

68 exhibition Between agony and the celebration of

modernity, third in the series Generational Tensions

curated by Alfonso Castrilln at ICPNA in Mira-

ores

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delfin 80 years

Documents