O. Ascanio Gallery Born in Villa de Cura, Venezuela, Ascanio quickly ascended the ranks of Venezuelan society and style. At the age of 17, he immersed himself in art history and theory while apprenticing with the renowned Alfredo Boulton. An art critic, cultural historian and photographer, Boulton was instrumental in the development of Venezuela’s modernist and contemporary art movement. This experience and his affinity for art history led him to trade medical school for a masters degree in economy from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in 1972. Two years later, he launched a publishing company coined Ediciones Macanao with Boulton and kinetic, op artist Carlos Cruz Diez. The company was named after a cocktail Boulton invented and dubbed Macanao while at his grand estate in Margarita Island with his wife Mirta, Ascanio and Cruz Diez. Ediciones Macanao was dedicated to producing literature on the study of Venezuelan art and related topics. The company published a bevy of books on Venezuelan artists that included Jesus Soto, Hector Poleo, Armando Reverón and Rafael Monasterios. Also featured in Ediciones Macanao, was Simon Bolivar’s iconography, among others. In 1976, Ascanio collaborated in the organization of an exhibition of Soto’s work in New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Two years later, he founded Estudio 1, a gallery dedicated to Soto’s work, and became Soto’s agent and legal representative. He also represented other emerging and established Venezuelan artists during this time. Soto is regarded as one of the world’s most famous contemporary artists. He is considered a forefather of kinetic art, and a number of his paintings can be found on the walls of the most prestigious museums or in the hands of respectable collectors. Ascanio commuted between Paris and Caracas for four years starting in 1978 with the purpose of organizing art exhibitions. He also used this time to refine his knowledge of art history through liberal studies at Université Sorbonne, École du Louvre and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Ascanio put together retrospective exhibitions for Soto in 1982 in Madrid’s Parque del Retiro and Fundación Juan March; In 1985, he organized the retrospective exhibition Soto Space Art in Miami’s Center for the Fine Arts, and another retrospective exhibition for Soto was organized in 1990, debuting in Tokyo’s Contemporary Sculpture Center and traveling to Osaka and Kyoto. In 1984, Ascanio opened Galeria Oscar Ascanio in Caracas, Venezuela. Through this venture Ascanio worked with various contemporary Latin-American artists such as Alejandro Otero, Jesus Soto, Victor Lucena, Edgar Negret, Lina Sinisterra, Francisco Salazar, Karl Weidmann and Carlos Cabeza. He also featured international artists that included Bernar Venet, Bernard Aubertin and Fernando Mignoni. Today, Galeria Oscar Ascanio is considered one of Venezuela’s most important and influential galleries. Now, Ascanio prepares to open a gallery in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District entitled, O. Ascanio Gallery. His goal is to spotlight various international artists using his latest venture as a catalyst. The gallery, located at 2600 NW Second Ave., is slated to open September 11, 2010. Oscar is currently a member of the Wynwood Arts District Association (WADA). He has two sons: Nicolas, 27, and Alfredo, 20. Both are involved in their father’s business and will help run the gallery as Ascanio commutes between Miami and Venezuela.
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