José Sigala - Sigala - 1964-1992

A very rare Latin American photobook by the Venezuelan photographer José Sigala which documents various stages of his career.

Book condition: very good, outside with just a small bump at the top corner (see photo) not affecting the interior, else very good cloth hardcover, complete dustjacket without tears in very good condition, with some scratches, signs of handling. Interior very clean, unmarked, no creased pages, no foxing.

The photographic work of Alirio José Sigala Venegas (Barquisimeto 1940-1995) is one of the most diverse in Venezuelan creation, in terms of subject matter and scope. He was born in Barquisimeto, Lara State, on May 15, 1940. He was the son of Alirio Sigala and Rosa Victoria Venegas. In 1958, he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). Later, he became interested in jewelry-making. In 1959, he traveled to England and studied industrial design at the Birmingham School of Fine Arts and, between 1960 and 1963, at the Museum College of Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Near the completion of his studies, he enrolled in photography classes taught by Sol Libsohn. In 1964, he held his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts (MBA). Ten years later, he was selected along with Seka and Harry Abend for the "First exhibition of crafts of the Americas" organized by the World Crafts Council at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Canada. In 1975, he participated in the Contemporary Craft Exhibition of the Americas in Sacramento, California, USA. In 1977, he held his second solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MACC). He participated in the "Made in Venezuela" exhibition at MACC in 1978 and the 10th International Photography Encounter in Arles, France, in 1979. In 1982, he exhibited "The Face of Venezuela" at the National Library (BN) and his series "The First Communion of Rosa Carolina Pereira" at the IV Annual Exhibition of Documentary Photography. In 1985, he organized "Photography as News" at the Barquisimeto Museum with photojournalists from El Informador. His last exhibition, based on "The Renny Show," was held at BN in 1994. Some of his most emblematic works include the circus series (Caracas, 1974), the series of 16 photos of Miss Venezuela María Antonieta Cámpoli on a contact strip (Caracas, 1974), formal characters lost in ornate architectures (Buenos Aires, 1972), and characters that ironized the viewer (Toronto, 1974). Alongside photography, he continued his work in the jewelry world, exhibiting at the National Salon of Fire Arts in Valencia, Carabobo State, in 1971 and 1974. After 1964, he became interested in advertising photography and photojournalism. The following year, he began working for magazines such as Diners and Kena, in 1966 for Zona Franca, and in 1967 for Vanidades. Due to his professional success, he was called upon by the newspaper El Nacional to work on the Sunday supplement 7º Día in 1971. He contributed to El Nacional's Pandora magazine in 1983 and directed the Sunday supplement Ok for El Informador in Lara in 1986. Sigala covered travel reports on Colombia, Peru, and Trinidad Island, as well as baseball and bullfighting, fashion, and portraits. For the book "Wachakaresai," about the aboriginal ceramics of Lara State, he took 87 photos. He received important awards such as the National Photography Prize (1990) and the Grand Dimple Prize 15 Years for his series "Portraits 1970-1985" (1994)