The Ecuadorian crisis of aesthetic representation from the second half of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century

Abstract

This paper analyzes how Ecuadorian art has three features that characterize aesthetic experiences from the mid-20th century to the present. ‘Imposition’, because esthetic models that define the production of artistic expressions are transferred without qualms; ‘Domain’, because this taxing and multifunctional influence is considered preferable in social, cultural, artistic and academic spaces; ‘Exclusion’, given that there are expressions that are considered inoperative in this dominance and are excluded. This situation comes from the paradigm of postmodernist ‘aesthetic samples’, conceptualists of neo-Marxist ideological tendencies. This mixture applied to aesthetics and art in Ecuador has imposed a regime that is guided by the ‘high culture’ and practices of ‘cultured art’ associated with curatorial achievements, has caused confusion and instability in the production of artistic expressions; not only those involved in this model but also those who do not submit to it. In this inquiry, sources are consulted at the national and international level and the two features stated in questioning are explored with the theories and ideology that support the aforementioned paradigm, for an interpretative one with three complementary instances. The first refers to the aesthetic paradigms and from which Ecuadorian contemporary art derives; the second, on the axiom of the ‘aesthetic samples’ and the agency in the artistic expressions. The conclusion states the limitations, openings, and results to assign options to the current state of the art and the alternative diligence represented by the Andean philosophy for overcoming the Ecuadorian aesthetic crisis.