IDBís Director Felix Angel Helps Build Stature by Gary Tischler In some ways, the exhibitions that arrive with some regularity at the Cultural Center of the Inter-American Development Bank are one of Washingtonís little secret treasures. Hereís something you should know about these exhibitions: Thereís nothing like them. You wonít see them anywhere else. Consider the current exhibition, ìMasterpieces of Canadian Inuit Sculpture.î Thirty-nine Inuit artists are represented in a strong exhibitions of compelling figures that canít be seen outside of Canadian borders or private collections. But here they are together in Washington, D.C. If you go often enough to the centerís exhibitions you detect a pattern. Although they have a broad regional commonality, the exhibitions share only their singularity, their uniqueness and originality in bringing highly focused art and themes to Washington patrons. In terms of climate, for instance, the frosty elements of the Inuit exhibition were preceded by a survey of modern art and folk art from El Salvador and a look at modern art and artists from the Bahamas. The exhibition have ranged across time, space, and for the most part the Americas. The titles tell you a lot about specificity and focus: ìThree Moments in Jamaican Artî; ìNationalist Tendencies in Bolivian Art, 1925-1950î; ìCrossing Panama: A History of the Isthmus as Seen Through Its Artî; ì17th and 18th Century Sculpture in Quitoî; ìWhat a Time It Was ... Life and Culture in Buenos Aires, 1880-1920î; ìParallel Realities: Five Pioneering Artists From Barbadosî; ìMystery and Mysticism in Dominican Artî; and ìFigariís Montevideo.î Felix Angel, who helped establish the IDB Cultural Center in 1991 after a long stint at the Organization of American States, has developed the visual arts program at the center, becoming curator as well as general coordinator of the center. If anybody is qualified for doing what heís doing, itís probably Angel. Enrique Grau Araujo, president of the board of the Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena de Indias, has called him ìnotoriousî in a good way. ìThe most notorious fact about him is his diversity of interests,î he has written in the text for an exhibition by Angel, the noted artist. ìDraftsman, painter, printmaker, writer, historian and curator of wonderful exhibitions.î These days and in the past, they called a man like Angel a Renaissance man, which still doesnít tell the story. A Colombian native from Medellin, Angel studied architecture and was already a large-reputation artist before coming to the United States where he has settled. His art workóas painter and draftsmanóis vivid, in your-face and unsettling. His ideas are always on the move. He is what you might call a serious man. Not in the sense that he takes himself too seriously, but that he takes what he does seriously, he is serious about art, culture and history and how those things interact. ìI feel very lucky to be able to do what I do here,î he said. ìThese exhibitions are very much an expression of the institution, in the sense that we encourage cultural efforts in all the countries of the region, we are interested in its development and continuance. We are perhaps not so great as larger institutions, but this gives us focus. We are a bank, but we are more than that. ìThis is not about politics, it is about cooperation and support,î he said. ìWe have to be an active player in the cultural world. Not only in the exhibition, but in the selection of subjects, of lecturers, of performers. All of it is to project the region into the United States, to be sure, but also to share. We strive to bring unique offerings here and I think we have succeeded. Think of the diversity in the region, itís what after all makes it so remarkable.î Getting the exhibitions together is serious business for Angel and the IDB. It requires trips, getting rights, finding the artists and maintaining an attitude of exploration. But each is an adventure, an opportunity for cooperation and ongoing learning and exchange. Felix Angel is obviously a learned man but ìyou still marvel at what you find, the discoveries you make about art and artists. Angel has curated, co-curated and written essays on most of the exhibitions at the center. The institution has embarked on many local cooperative efforts with other institutions as well as supporting the mushrooming Hispanic and Latin American communities in the Washington area. The many duties of the job are hard to juggle, but they also often and always intertwineóhe curates, he exhibits, he paints, he works, he espouses, he leads. He is both a citizen, and resident of Washington and America, a man from Colombia, an administrator and organizer as well as artist. You guess that warring sensibilities and urges have made peace within him cooperated to bring out the best. Any time now, those exhibitions, those gems on New York Avenue will be secret no longer. Neither will Felix Angel, an original in the world at large. Gary Tischler is the arts writer for The Washington Diplomat.