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Rolando Peña (born October 27, 1942) is a Venezuelan Conceptual, Multimedia, and Performance artist. In the ­Barsa Encyclopedia ­Britannica book of the year 1968, the art critic Stasys Goštautas wrote: “Rolando Peña (Venezuelan Artist), Founder and Director of The Foundation for The Totality (Group of Latin American art, based in NYC), is the pioneer in Multimedia- Psychedelics, Happenings, Performance shows in Latin America.”

Early Life
Rolando Peña

Foundation for the Totality
In 1966, in East Village of New York City, Rolando Peña (Venezuela, 1942) founded and directed Foundation for the Totality along with Juan Downey (Chile, 1940), Manuel Vicente Peña (Colombia, 1949) alias Manuel V, Waldo Balart (Cuba, 1931), and Jaime Barrios (Chile, 1945). They compiled their points of actions in a manifesto published in the underground newspaper East Village Other (EVO) on August 1, 1967:

Foundation for the Totality brought together a group of Latin American artists to embrace the totality. The vitality of the context of the sixties, allowed them to develop a path of creative experimentation as well as particular aesthetics and sensibilities; in which everyone contributed to the dynamic whole from its sensitive traditions, knowledge, and experiences. The American artist Andy Warhol, who named Rolando Peña The Black PrinceItalic text, collaborated with Foundation for the Totality. Peña performed with Warhol in several happenings and actions for the films ****Four Stars(1967), The Loves of Ondine (1968), and The Nude Restaurant (1968).

With Rolando Peña as a catalyst, Foundation for the Totality and its members raised arguments and actions against the Vietnam War. They mixed Buddhism with mixed media, McLuhanism with religion, the hippie movement with the Beat. In any circumstance, they protested against established powers. They cultivated an irreverent sensibility which not only proposed to renew the forms of expression through experimentation, but it represented a singular and heterodox network of networks, dialogues, and testimonies that served as a contribution to the study and historiography of the cultural scene of New York and the presence and participation of Latin American artists.

Members of Foundation for the Totality


 * Joseph Aliaga
 * [[Carlos Anduze
 * Waldo Balart
 * Alfonso Barrios
 * Jaime Barrios
 * Gregory Battcock
 * Carmen Beuchat
 * Walter Bowart
 * Jaime Caro
 * Joe Dallesandro
 * Candy Darling
 * Divine
 * Juan Downey
 * Marisol Escobar
 * Arturo Esguerra
 * Chuck Federman
 * Ana María Fuenzalida
 * Allen Ginsberg
 * Moira Hobson
 * Nam June Paik
 * Vicky Larrain
 * Timothy Leary
 * Casey Lee
 * Noel Levert
 * Juan Liscano
 * Iván Loscher
 * Roberto Loscher
 * Gerard Malanga
 * Taylor Mead
 * Allen Midgette
 * Marcelo Montealegre
 * Mario Montez
 * Isabel Morrison
 * Paul Morrissey
 * Billy Name
 * Julio Neri
 * Nico
 * Rudolf Nureyev
 * Manuel Quinto
 * Pierre Restany
 * Edie Sedgwick
 * Diego Rísquez
 * José Rodríguez Soltero
 * Marcela Rossiter
 * Carla Rotolo
 * Simone Swan
 * Diego Texera
 * Angela Tirelli
 * Ultraviolet
 * Zezzar A. Vallejo
 * Aldo Vigliarolo
 * Viva
 * Andy Warhol

Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship, 2009

Books

 * The Standard Model of Matter: A Tribute to the 20th Century, artist Rolando Peña; authors Rolando Peña, Claudio Mendoza, (1993) ISBN 980-07-6068-7
 * Mene Digital, artist Rolando Peña; authors Rolando Peña, Claudio Mendoza; sponsored by IBM Venezuela; computer graphic Thomas Fromherz; texts Alfredo Boulton, Pierre Restany, Claudio Mendoza, Thomas Fromherz; graphic design Victor Lucena; photography Nelson Garrido (1993) ISBN 980-07-1159-7