Perna, Claudio

Claudio Perna (1938-1997) was born in Milan on December 20, 1938, to an Italian father and a Venezuelan mother. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Italy, which was shaken by the events of World War II and the harsh years that followed. He completed his primary education in Brescia and arrived in Venezuela at the end of 1955. In 1958, he finished high school and entered the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), where he studied until 1961. The following year, he traveled to the United States at a time when Marcel Duchamp's work was influencing the avant-garde movements of the era. In 1963, he began his geography studies at UCV, graduating with honors in 1968. Much of his creative work revolved around the relationship between art and this discipline, in which he was a professor and researcher. He was a key figure in conceptualism in Venezuela, developing a body of work that aligned with conceptual art and the avant-garde trends that emerged in the late 1960s. An innovator of artistic languages, he experimented with photographic media, including photocopies, Polaroids, and intervened shots, and conducted slide and film projections in live Fluxus-like experiences. He also wrote reflections on contemporary art issues and the role of the artist.