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nearly all cultures. The ones that were particularly renowned in history (besides
those mentioned above) arose in Persia, Arabia and China.
With respect to the art of the silver or heroic ages, it always reflects the
existence of that "order" —be it celestial or terrestrial— that constitutes the
paramount objective of the people living in those times. In Greek culture it is
the Ionic order that best expresses the urge to glorify mythic heroes —an urge
that constitutes the principal inspirational motif of the art of those times. In
Western culture the Gothic style represents the culmination of the effort to give
shape to such manifestations. This was achieved through the rhythmic linear
mastery of forms manifestations perceptible to the human senses of what makes
up the divine cosmic order of the universe. We can perceive something quite
similar in the Toltec "Atlantes" of Tula, in the epic Egyptian bas-reliefs of the
fourth dynasty or in the Cyclopean Quechua architecture of Sacsahuaman.
The third age through which cultures pass is the bronze age. At this stage
spiritual ends cease to predominate as the driving force of human activities,
having been replaced by political and philosophical ideals. This was the epoch
during which the major ideologies and the most noteworthy currents of thought
were created. The archetypal model is no longer the priest or the mystic
warrior, but the statesman and the savant. Everything acquires a human rather
than divine or cosmic scale. ("Man is the measure of all things") and even
religion itself tends to become rationalized to a great extent. The decisions
that determine how societies are to be governed no longer come from the
monastery or the castle, but from great cities.
Like the rest of human activities, the works of artists are "humanized"
during the times of the bronze ages. Not only did a major profane art flourish
as a contrast to the sacred and heroic art of previous ages, but even religious
art became secularized to a considerable extent, as seen in the tendency to
give deities a human dimension.
In Western culture what is known as the European Renaissance took place
during the early stages of the bronze age of this culture. The baroque and the
rococo were the styles that best exemplified the artistic ideals that held sway in
the times of that age and culture. With regard to ancient Mexican cultures, the
transition from the sacred and heroic to the strictly "human" can easily be
detected in their codices, while those made in the previous ages only contain
information relating to deities and the ways in which cosmic forces operate
(Borgia, Dresden). In the codices from the third age, data concerned with
human activities, from wars and conquests to the enumeration of reigning
genealogies in a particular region (Nuttall, Vindobonensis) now predominate.
Something quite similar occurred with regard to the
stylistic evolution of Arabic culture. The initial
geometric and abstract decorations with which
sacred themes were expressed gave way first to
mythic battle scenes from heroic times and then, with
the arrival of the bronze age, focused on a "search
for reality", in a naturalism that sought to reproduce
with great perfection the forms of flowers, plants,
animals and human beings.
The fourth and last phase of a culture is the iron
age, which could also be termed the "herd stage". What is meant by this term is
that society in those days was characterized by the "massification" of
mankind, the virtual worship of things, and the fact that the predominant
values were always materialism, the accumulation of wealth and the
gratification of man's primary instincts. The ideologies that had prevailed in
the previous epoch were discredited, and the naked desire for power
governed public affairs. A suicidal lack of consciousness led the human herds
to the destruction of their environment, impelled as they were by an
uncontrollable desire for material gain.
What happened during the iron age of Greek culture is perhaps the most
widely known historic example from that time. As will be recalled, by the fifth
century A.D. the entire Mediterranean region was encompassed by that culture
—conterminous with the extensive boundaries of the Roman Empire— which
was beset by an overwhelming crisis in the spheres of religion, politics, morals
and economics. The dishonesty of authorities brought about inflation and
continual devaluations. After the inhabitants had devastated the forests and
left cultivated fields bare and abandoned, they clustered together in ever
more crowded, large and insalubrious cities. Everything was done on a massive
scale—even the most popular kinds of entertainment, like the bloody spectacles
held in the Roman circus.
Something very similar to that which occurred in Europe in the fifth century
A.D. is now taking place throughout the entire world. The most notable
characteristic of our times is that for the first time in history all cultures of
humankind are synchronized in their iron age. This is the explanation for the
ecological degradation on a planetary scale, as well as the evident uniformity
that has been enveloping all mankind. The model of massification developed
by Occidental culture serves as an example for all cultures, in such a way that by
the end of the twentieth century the great "global village" alluded to by
McLuhan is already a reality. Throughout the world the same sports are
played, the same music is heard, the same kind of clothes are worn and similar
economic criteria carry the day.
This massification and rampant materialism that form the distinctive
features of the present are equally manifest in art. Hence, for example, the
architectural edifices that are built all around us clearly reflect the sheep or
herd-like mentality that rules us. All the large housing complexes that are built
in the outskirts of big cities are monotonously the same. As we observe them,
one cannot tell whether one is in Madrid, Bombay or Buenos Aires. What a
difference with the constructions in these same cities built only a century
ago, endowed as they were with a beauty and individuality that could still be
called "human"!
Works of architecture are simply one more example among many others
that could be cited with respect to the greater part of the artistic production of
our times. It is characterized by being either the result of bad copies from the
past, or by attempts that are almost always failures to create something
grandiose, which achieve a modish popularity and only produce works of poor
quality in all branches of art.
Now, in the light of what has occurred in the past, we can assert that the
sacred or golden ages had their genesis during the iron ages, precisely at a
time when societies had plumbed the depths of degradation. It was then when,
unexpectedly, small groups began to appear, motivated not by the desire for
riches or power, but by an authentic mysticism that generated a full-blown
movement toward a return to the sacred. Quite soon —historically speaking, or
within a period of two or three centuries— this movement acquired an
undeniable strength that enabled it to effect a radical transformation of
society, together with the dawn of a new cultural golden age.
Judging by all indications, it is clear that at the present time the history of
mankind is splitting into two very different histories. One of them is concerned
with what occurs in mass societies, and the other is concerned with individuals
and small groups who seek to recover the sacred dimension of existence.
Regarding the aforementioned history, it contains the most frightful of all
narratives. In the last decades of the second millennium of the Christian Era,an
unprecedented destruction of the Planet Earth has taken place. Quite different
has been the history of those who, during the same period, have begun to work
toward the creation of a new and as yet undefined form of spirituality that is
manifested in very diverse forms. These range from the revival of ancient
techniques of consciousness raising to the creation of ecological movements
that have demonstrated in practice the feasibility of subsisting and progressing
without needing to destroy the natural environment. Thus, there has already
been set in motion a serious attempt to reverse the current destructive impulse
and transform it into a golden age for all humankind. As a result of the
growing process of globalization, anything that happens in one place has an
impact on a scale that is no longer local but worldwide.
True artists, the voice and conscience of our species, realize intuitively that
they are facing one of the most difficult challenges that they and their fellow
professional colleagues have ever had to face in previous cycles. That is to
create anew the totality of artistic forms for expressing the sacred. What will be
the characteristics of the art of that new age that lies just ahead? It is impossible
to give a specific answer to such a question. Nevertheless, it is logical to
suppose that in order to meet the challenge of its epoch, the art of the future
will have to rise above the heritage of the past and reject simple repetition or
mixture of styles from old cultures. Similarly, it will have to bring forth a true
global spirit, succeed in arousing interest and awaken emotions in the general
population of the earth —not just in the members of a particular nation, culture
or religion.
Do artists exits at the present time whose works can be classified as
innovators of the new style that will prevail in the future? We believe that the
answer is affirmative, and that in very different parts of the world there are
artists starting to come forward who are engaged in the difficult task of
creating a novel language of forms that will allow human beings to approach
the great mysteries of life in a more profound way.
In observing the sculptures of Alejandro Prieto, one spontaneously feels the
certainty of being in the presence of an art that, both because of its originality
and universality, as well as the spirituality that it reflects, already possesses the
features that we have pointed out as essential for the art of the new age.
These sculptures are shaped into forms that at times seem to defy the law of
gravity. They constitute a monumental and vigorously plastic body of art; an
impressive repertory of stylized masses that displays a rhythmical and
exuberant inventiveness that is full of animation. Its dynamic quality casts aside
the law of frontality and permits the viewer to observe its multiform structure
from any angle. There is in these sculptures an endless play of light and
shadow, achieved through elegant and well-molded lines in
which an abstract geometric tendency prevails.
Let us hope that Alejandro Prieto will
continue to move forward along this path. His
art is already a preview of the art of the
future,which in turn foretells a new and better
age in the history of mankind.
Extracted from:
Esculturas, Alejandro Prieto Posada, p. 94
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Alvar y Carmen T. de
Carrillo Gil
1ª Edición, México 1993
ISBN: 968–6873–06-6
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