Gego: Measuring Infinity

Gego infused her art with architecture and engineering to create unique works of delicate suspense

Accompanying the first major museum retrospective exhibition of Gego’s work in the US in more than 15 years, this expansive, definitive catalog charts the evolution of Gego’s singular approach to abstraction through organic forms, linear structures and systematic spatial investigations. Featuring nearly 300 images, including more than 160 sculptures, drawings, prints, artist’s books, textiles and installations made between the early 1950s and the early 1990s, this volume also presents 11 illustrated essays by experts in the field of modern and contemporary Latin American art that trace Gego’s artistic development across various mediums and disciplines, including her significant contributions to architecture and design; ground her practice in various art movements that materialized in Latin America, Europe and the US during her lifetime; and consider the pedagogical influence of her two-decade teaching career in Caracas. An illustrated chronology tracks Gego’s life and artistic progression as well as her exhibition history, contextualized within the rich cultural milieus in which she lived and worked. Also featured are images of Gego’s Reticulárea, an environmental installation widely considered to be her magnum opus, and a series of photographs taken by the artist’s partner at their shared home and studio in Caracas. Gego remains little known in the US today, despite her unique and striking formal and conceptual contributions. This essential publication advances an expanded understanding and appreciation of the artist’s work within the context of 20th-century modernism.
Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt, 1912-94) came of age as an artist in the midst of Venezuela’s development as a modern state, emerging as a vital figure in Latin American modern art whose work intersected with major transnational art movements of the 20th century while remaining distinctly her own. Born in Hamburg and trained as an engineer and architect in Germany, Gego immigrated to Venezuela in 1939, fleeing Nazi persecution. In her new home of Caracas, she worked as an architect and a designer before embarking on her artistic career, which she pursued until her death in 1994.